Brave New Earth- Dreamkeepers: Waking Chaos
by TheMadMadman
Summary: Following her death, Paige is reborn in the Human world thanks to the efforts of a strange character named Uzara. Furthermore, Mace and the others are brought to the Human world as well, and Mace begins to realize that the strange behavior of the necklace that Paige made for him is connected to something that is much bigger than he could ever imagine. 1st story in the BNE saga.
1. Prologue

**BNE: Dreamkeepers- Waking Chaos**

_By: TheMadMadman_

_(This story is of an alternate universe to that of the Graphic Novel Saga)_

**PROLOGUE:**

_Paige's life had ended. This much she knew._

_She could remember all of the things that happened during her life- losing her mother, moving into the orphanage, meeting her best friends Mace, Whip, and Vi… living under the brunt of Grunn and the constant bullying by Randy. The memories of the horrible food, deplorable conditions, and back-breaking labor all eventually came rushing back to her- with a little unwanted effort on her part, of course. _

_The things she remembered easier, however, all had to do with Mace, Whip, and Vi. Only… all of that had ended with a single tragic incident._

_Brutally murdered at the hands of a strange and frightening Dreamkeeper, she had experienced her existence being ripped away. She fought and struggled for her life, but it was not enough. Judging by her current predicament, this was absolutely the case. _

_However, what she did not know, or rather, what she wanted to know- was where exactly she was. _

_All she could feel, hear, taste, see, or smell was the overwhelming sensation of emptiness. Although, this was not a dark and bottomless emptiness- no, this was an ever-expanding and intensifying white aura that surrounded her._

_It made the young Dreamkeeper feel very uneasy, but there was also a calming sensation that enveloped her. She tried looking down at her hands, but could see nothing except the white fog that clouded this… space. _

_However, as time passed she could hear a few faint voices. They sounded like grown adults, and they seemed to be coming from everywhere around her. As the seconds ticked by, she could hear the voices getting louder. These voices seemed to be talking about… someone. They said things like:_

"_Her vitals are starting to come back!" and "I guess she made it here in one piece."_

_Paige knew that there was no way they were talking about her, since she was dead. Or were they in fact talking about her? That last person who spoke seemed to have a condescending tone in his voice, and for all she knew they could be investigating her crime-scene or giving an autopsy of her body. Was she a ghost? Was she hovering over these men while they investigated the cause of her death. _

_Perhaps not though, for Paige was starting to feel something else instead of the white aura. This was actual, physical, feeling. Sensations were beginning to slowly return to her. To her surprise, she felt something behind and underneath her. It felt as if she was lying on a hard, uncomfortable table, with what seemed like paper on top of the surface. She also noticed the familiar sensation of her blue gown that she always wore._

_Paige could now hear a male's voice with a strange accent say, "Test her senses and vitals! We need to know if this truly worked!" Although this time the voice didn't sound far off. It sounded very clear and it seemed like it was coming from a source just a few feet away from her. _

_Then, it felt as if someone was repeatedly poking her right and left hands with a stick. Instinctively, she attempted to swat the nuisances away with a very weak swipe of her arms. _

"_She's responding…" another voice said. _

_Although Paige could definitely tell that her senses were slowly returning, she still could not see even one inch in front of her due to the white aura. However, this also started to dissipate, giving her a blurry view of what was going on. Before she could even make out any distinct shapes, she heard an annoying sound in both of her ears. It was as if someone was snapping their fingers extremely close to her eardrums. Paige's hands quickly shot to her ears in order to block the unbearable noise from reaching her, as she quickly found out that she had a massive headache. _

"_Her hearing seems to be okay!" the same voice called out to someone else. Paige could now hear footsteps coming her way, and at the same time her vision began to clear up. It was now that her sense of smell seemed to be returning as well, and to her the place she was in smelled a lot like a doctor's office in the Margate District. _

_She winced, and tried to focus her eyes some more. It felt as if she had been sleeping for five days straight, or like she had been tossed about in the ocean and had just woke up on a deserted island. Although instead of the sound of Skraws, there was the sound of strange men- possibly doctors, talking about her supposed condition. _

_Her vision began to clear, and she blinked her eyes slowly a few times before really focusing on what was around her. Paige was on what she assumed to be an operating table, like the ones she had seen at the health center. She was still in a dazed and confused state, so she looked from herself to the room around her. She could make out shelves and other tables, all lined with vials, beakers, meters, and a slew of foreign instruments that she had never seen before. Then, she looked in front of her table. Paige's eyes quickly adjusted, and then shot wide open. _

_There, in front of the table, were about four or five incredibly odd Dreamkeepers that all looked almost the same. They had little to no fur- except for on their heads, semi-pointy noses, and ears on the side of their heads instead of near the top. To top it off she realized that all of them were staring at her with wide, amazed eyes. Paige and the strange Dreamkeepers stared at each other for what seemed like several minutes. She noticed that they began to quietly talk to each other, all while making sure not to take their eyes off of her. One of them walked closer to her, which made Paige gently shift away from him in a nervous fashion. She began to fear what exactly this man would do to her, especially after her last ordeal… _

0ooOoo0

"Well hello there, little one!" he suddenly said to her with a sincere smile on his face. Seeing him speak so suddenly and with such a calm demeanor, given her current situation, Paige screamed and found the strength to leap off of the table… and land on the floor. She hit the ground hard, and she was quickly reminded that she now had her ability to feel back. The doctors gasped in surprise, and began to move towards her. She bruised her leg slightly in the fall, but she persisted through the pain and practically jumped behind a box near the table in an attempt to hide from the strangers.

As she sat behind the box, panting in fear, the men cautiously advanced towards her. "Please settle down! We aren't going to hurt you!" one of them pleaded, and walked around to where she was sitting. Paige ignored his words, and got up from her current spot to run to another. As she ran, one of the scientists dove to try and subdue her, but Paige dodged him and he just ended up landing on the floor himself. Paige made it to another table, and proceeded to hid behind it. The men followed her, trying not to spook her but ending up doing it anyway. She saw them as they kept advancing towards her, and they were much taller than she had previously thought. They had to be almost three times her size, and the white lab coats that they wore seemed to make them more intimidating to her.

Paige's eyes grew wide as they moved to surround her, but she thought quickly. She scrambled under the table's legs and through to the other side. She got to her feet, and tried desperately to find an exit door or anything that would lead out of this terrifying situation. Once she rounded the corner of another table, she saw that she was at a dead end. She had no illusions that she could get away this time, as the haze from her previous state was beginning to wear off completely. Large shadows crept up behind her, signaling the arrival of the strange men, and at this moment Paige became as scared as she was during that fateful night at the orphanage washroom. However, this fear somehow began to turn into determination and anger. Paige closed her eyes, and clenched her fists.

No more!

This won't turn out like it did last time! Not if she had anything to say about it…

With a look of focus and determination, Paige slowly turned around to face her pursuers. They stood before her, and had her trapped. She thought that she would fight her way out of it if she had to. Anything to keep herself from returning to that static, uneventful, torturous state of being she had just come out of.

Then, she took another look at the men's faces. To her surprise, what she saw wasn't really frightening at all. Sure, they seemed different, but there was a stoic calmness that these men seemed to give off towards her. Their eyes were almost exactly like her own, and from what she could see, they did not seem threatening in the slightest.

One of them, who looked to be the eldest of the bunch, kneeled down to her level and crossed his arms in a calm fashion. He had short, white hair and a white, stubbly beard that bordered his mouth "Please, Miss," he said with a voice that personified kindness and wisdom. "Calm down, we promise not to hurt you… can you understand me?" he asked.

Paige stepped back a bit and clenched her teeth. "S-s-stay away f-from m-me!" she quivered. "L-leave m-me alone!"

The other scientists reeled back just a little bit and began to whisper amongst themselves. Apparently they were shocked that Paige could speak in a language they could understand. Another, dark-skinned scientist with a bald head stepped forward and put his hand on the kneeling scientist's shoulder in a friendly manner. "Doctor Hanford doesn't lie, little one…" he said to her in a deep voice. "He wouldn't hurt a fly- and neither would any of us," he added in what seemed like a sincere tone.

Paige could feel her defenses beginning to drop, and she suddenly felt helpless and scared again. Inch by inch, she let her fists drop and open up. "We know that you've probably been through a lot when you came here, and we're here to try and make it easier on you… so please don't be afraid…" the man said to her. While Paige looked at him, she could somehow see and feel that this stranger was telling the truth. Perhaps it was the sincerity in their eyes and faces but whatever the reason, she suddenly began to feel vulnerable again. She kept her head down with her eyes closed, and began shaking like a leaf.

Before the scientist could say anything else, Paige began to sob and slumped down against the side of the table. She wrapped her small arms around her legs and brought them up to her chin as she cried into her gown. Feeling truly sorry for the strange little girl, the scientists came closer and tried to make themselves seem as non-threatening as possible to her. To Paige, it felt like she hadn't cried this hard in a very long time- the last time being when her mother had passed away. Between her confused sobbing and choking, Paige managed to ask the most competent question she could muster. "Where a-am I? Who are y-you?" she sobbed. The scientists looked at each other again, before a particularly skinny one leaned forward to speak.

"Well… those questions might take a while to answer," he replied honestly. Another scientist quickly nudged him, and he spoke again. "Um… Uh… and we were also wondering… what is your name, little girl?"

Paige was finally starting to calm down, so she lifted her head and looked back at them. "M-my name's Paige," she replied with a sniffle. The scientists in front of her acted friendly, and were beginning to make her feel more relaxed.

"Well then Paige, its nice to meet you," a rather portly scientist said, and held out his large hand. "You can call me Doctor Mason!" Paige just looked at him in a nervous manner, and declined the hand shake. With an almost comical look of defeat, the scientist withdrew his hand and let out a sad sigh before looking at his peers.

"Um… we were also starting to wonder… what exactly you are, Paige," the skinny one said. Paige just looked at him with a confused expression. "Could you please tell us?" he asked.

Paige was about to answer, until another man that looked somewhat like the others walked around the corner behind the kneeling scientists. "She is a Dreamkeeper," the man replied with a slight accent. At the sound of his voice, the scientists turned in his direction and stood up. Paige looked at the man with curiosity, as he was a bit different from the scientists. Instead of a white jacket, he wore a very expensive-looking dark-crimson suit and pants. He had light-brown skin and dark hair that was cut short and made him look like a professional at… whatever he did. He had deep brown eyes, and neatly trimmed eyebrows as well. He had no facial hair below his eyes, and his entire demeanor was as sharp as his appearance.

"_Damn, I forgot that he's been here the entire time!_" the portly scientist

"A… what?" the dark-skinned scientist asked with curiosity. Paige looked from the newcomer to the scientists, and then back to the stranger, not really knowing what to think. She was utterly confused, as she thought that these people were Dreamkeepers just like her. This is understandable, since Dreamkeepers were so incredibly varied in size and appearance.

"A Dreamkeeper!" the well-dressed man repeated, only this time he said it with more grandeur. "Is that right, Dear?" he asked Paige, who nodded in bewilderment. "Then… the experiment worked!" he added with a sly smile.

"How do you know what she is, Sir?" Dr. Hanford asked. The other scientists were just as curious as Hanford was, and joined in starting at the newcomer.

"Well, I… did a lot of research on her kind and her theoretical world as well!" he quickly replied with an accent that someone on Earth would describe as a Middle-Eastern accent. "You come from the Dreamworld, is that correct, Miss...?" he asked the young Dreamkeeper. "Paige…" she replied. "And yeah, I come from the Dreamworld," she added.

"Excellent, then allow me to introduce myself," the man smiled. "My name is Uzara Cojita, and It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ms. Paige," he greeted her, and held out his hand. Paige warily reached out for his hand and shook it.

This got the subtle attention of the scientist who's handshake got rejected by Paige. "Hey, she won't shake _my _hand, but shaking 'Creepy Arabian Capone's' hand is just fine?" he whispered to the other scientists. "Shhh! Shut up!" the skinny scientist hissed back, and made a 'zip-it' motion with his fingers over his mouth.

"If you don't m-mind me a-asking, what experiment w-were you guys talking about?" Paige asked timidly as she stood up. Uzara looked her in the eye, and smiled. "We have proven that magic and other paranormal aspects are compatible with science!" he declared. "You see… I have, unnatural abilities… but I do not wish to use these powers for evil. Oh no, I wish to use these powers to change the world," Uzara explained. "I have been knee-deep in research about your world, Paige, as well as your kind. However, these sources that contain information about your world and race are very ancient, and hard to decipher. Not to mention a bit biased…" he added with a cough. "You will be surprised to know that _your_ world, the Dreamworld, is connected with _this_ world… _our_ world," he explained. "It is a metaphysical connection that links the two, and you happen to be on the other side of it, now."

"Well, why am I h-here?" Paige asked, becoming more curious.

Uzara chuckled softly, and turned away from her. "I know about your powers, Paige. I know that your kind possesses the uncanny trait of special powers that range from the defensive, to the practical and even the aggressive. In fact, I am able to detect and predict the powers of a Dreamkeeper," he explained methodically.

All Dreamkeepers possess special powers that vary according to the individual. Some are passive, while others are more aggressive. They constitute anything from helping plants grow faster, to firing energy blasts through the air. This goes without saying that one could use their powers in a multitude of ways. The reason that Dreamkeepers have powers in the first place is because of the Nightmares. The Nightmares are horrific creatures that exist within the Dreamworld as a natural counterbalance to the Dreamkeepers- who's ultimate purpose in existence is to protect the human world's inhabitants from the Nightmares, who want to harm any life form they can. A single Dreamkeeper and a human share a bond that makes the Dreamkeeper a sort of avatar for the human, as both of them will live incredibly similar lives and go through similar events. If a Nightmare was to kill a Dreamkeeper, then that human's subconscious will be vulnerable while they dream in their sleep. Afterwards, the Nightmare can slip through the folds of reality and into the person's psyche to cause catastrophic damage to them. This means that the human will either die, go insane, or even become partly possessed by the Nightmare. It is this purpose that give the Dreamkeepers their powers- to be able to fight back and protect themselves from Nightmares, as a single Nightmare alone is worth a few Dreamkeepers in comparison.

This shocked and even scared Paige to a noticeable extent. "H-how is that p-possible?" she gasped.

"Magic, my dear," Uzara replied. "Or rather, ancient techniques used by you Dreamkeepers to detect and even manipulate power use. I will say that for the purpose of this experiment, I amplified my own abilities through scientific techniques to manipulate your own Dreamkeeper power, and then brought you here- thereby proving that science and magic _are _compatible," he explained, and turned back to Paige. "Now, I understand that you have somehow gotten killed in your world before I brought you here, am I correct?" he suddenly asked. His question got audible gasps from the scientists, who began to worry about Paige's condition.

Paige solemnly nodded, and it looked as if she was about to cry. "H-how did you know?" she asked Uzara in both bewilderment and sorrow.

Uzara looked right at her and frowned. "I could feel your pain and emptiness as you drifted in the space between worlds. I did not know what you looked like, or how old you were, or if you were a boy or a girl… but I could definitely feel death and despair within you…" he said quietly.

Paige could only stand, stare, and listen. She was close to tears, but fought them back. "I'm okay now, though, right?" Paige suddenly found herself asking.

Uzara nodded slowly, and crossed his arms. "You are alright for now, young one," he replied to her. "However, there is much you need to learn before you can truly grasp the weight of your situation. To my race, you are an outsider. You are a Dreamkeeper, however, _we_…" Uzara began to explain, and then motioned to the group of scientists standing behind Paige. "…Are Humans."

Paige looked at the scientists, and back to Uzara. "So, you really aren't Dreamkeepers?" she asked innocently.

"To your race, we may seem odd… although not here. This is _our_ world…" Uzara replied cryptically. He began to walk away to what appeared to be a door. Two panels of metal slid away from each other, providing an entrance to another part of the complex. Uzara glanced back at Paige, and coaxed her to come with him. "Follow me…" he told her, and she obeyed. Paige cautiously followed the human through the door, leaving the scientists in the previous room. After the door closed, the skinny one practically threw a clipboard across the room- almost breaking something.

"WOO! Do you realize how much of a breakthrough this is?!" he yelled. "We're all going to be rich and famous!" he added as he grabbed the shoulders of his fellow scientists.

Dr. Hanford forcefully brought his own hand onto the raving scientist's soldier. "Calm down, Watterson! Can't you see that we're going to have to keep her top secret for a long time?" he asked. "No one except our division can know about this! Imagine the chaos that would ensue if it got out that we have, for all intents and purposes, an ALIEN living here! Keep your head together, and wait until the time is right so no one will get harmed!" Hanford told him. Watterson stopped jumping around for a few seconds and brought his attention to Hanford. "We're going to have to keep her safe. She's a little girl…" he added, which made Watterson lose his smile. "The experiment worked, but dammit! We took a little girl from her world and brought her onto our maniacal, war-ridden, self-absorbed slice of hell!"

Watterson became more serious about the subject at hand. "To be fair, do you really know if her Dreamworld was any better? It could be even worse than our world!" he countered. "And if what Mr. Cojita says is true, then was killed in her world before we brought her here. If her world is so perfect then what caused her to get killed?" he asked Hanford.

Hanford thought about Watterson's words for a few seconds. "Perhaps you're right, Watterson. That could very well be true. However, that is not an excuse to tamper with reality… and don't tell Uzara I said that!" he replied.

"Will you two quit bickering?" the dark-skinned scientist interjected.

"Oops! Sorry about that, Dr. Linden!" Watterson replied sheepishly.

"Yeah, my apologies too…" Hanford added.

"Whatever the case may be, she's our responsibility now," Linden explained in his deep voice. "Those things are sure to be _personal matters_ to her, and that means we should ask her about those things ourselves." The other scientists could at least agree on that.

"Well, whatever becomes of this experiment, the world will never be the same… At least for those who know about it. We've made contact today folks," the portly scientist observed.

"Too right, Dr. Mason…" Linden added. "Too right…"

0ooOoo0

Paige followed Uzara through a few short halls, and into what looked like a living area. Once they entered, Uzara came to a stop and faced Paige. He prompted the girl to take a look around the area, much to her curiosity. This was no ordinary living area however, because it seemed to hold wall-to-wall luxury. It was quite the change in scenery for Paige, who had since then been accustomed to boarded floors, creaky doors, terrible drafts, and ship-sails for walls. Almost everything seemed to be made of pure silver or gold, and studded with brilliant, shining gemstones. Portraits of what she assumed to be famous humans hung on the walls, alongside swords, shields, and even a variety of helmets. On the left side of the room was a towering bookshelf, filled to the brim with countless volumes of literature. There were also busts of human figures in the room, and each was propped up by the finest-quality wood. Paige actually started to enjoy herself as she looked around at the different assortments of knick-knacks, until something caught her eye.

She had completely ignored it when she walked in the room, however, there it was. A giant, glass window big enough to act as one of the room's walls was located to the left of the doorway entrance. Outside, an otherworldly sight awaited Paige. She walked up to the window and gazed out of it the best she could. There was no doubt in her young mind that she was high up off the ground, and it was possibly the tallest building she had ever been in during her life. From what she could see, giant, circular and rectangular buildings crowded the area around the building that she and the others were in. They looked to be somewhat damaged and abandoned, as well as horribly overgrown. Beyond this, she could make out a dilapidated, once-grand bridge that spanned across a huge river. On the other side of the river, she could see what looked to be another, livelier city. It had lights and activity, just like Anduruna. Although she knew that it wasn't.

It was this venue that allowed Paige to take in everything that had happened to her recently. She was now in a new world, surrounded by beings called humans. She was probably as far as she could be from the Dreamworld that she knew. However, she began to think that maybe this situation was not as bad as it had initially seemed. This was a second chance at life for her. For one, there would be no Grunn or Randy picking on her. Two, she could finally live in a substantial home that doesn't need tarp for walls or an outhouse instead of plumbing. And lastly, maybe someone in this world would finally adopt her, like Uzara. He was strange, but he knew so much about Dreamkeepers and their powers- maybe he could help harness her powers and practice with them. The odds of adoption were probably better here anyway, since it seemed like no one in Anduruna would ever want to adopt her. Or the others… What about Mace and Whip? How could she forget? Her best friends were probably alive and well in Anduruna, having to live life without her. She missed those two so much, especially Mace. She felt as though she would give all of this opportunity up just for a chance to properly say goodbye to them. The familiar sensation of emptiness struck her again, and she had to fight back tears to avoid having another crying spell. After she took another long look through the window, she remembered the question that she had wanted to ask ever since she arrived there.

"Mr. Uzara?" Paige asked timidly.

The man turned to her slowly. "Yes, Paige?" he asked nonchalantly.

"If I'm not in the Dreamworld, then what world is this exactly?" she asked with genuine curiosity.

Uzara walked up beside Paige, and gazed out the window with her. "We call it Earth…"

0ooOoo0

It was now hours later and late in the evening. Paige had since gone to bed, tired from her experiences that day. As she slept, Uzara quietly entered the room where she was sleeping. He came out a few seconds later, holding a necklace with a carved, turquoise charm at the end. It looked like a Dreamkeeper's head, with big ears and large, docile eyes. The human did not know who this could be, and he had no care to find out. He had taken it from her bed stand while she slept, which was all he needed to know if his plan would truly work out.

He carried the necklace in his hand to the laboratory, where he ran the charm through his hand as if he was reading it before he placed it down on a metal plate. With no one else around, he looked down at the charm and smiled. "This must be what I made her power link the Dreamworld with… I can sense it," Uzara observed. He picked up the charm again and took a closer inspection of it. "The real question though is," he began as he turned the charm around. "Are you whole?" he asked.

Uzara held the charm in his hand, and walked over to a small machine that was sitting on a nearby table. He placed the charm inside the machine, and pressed one of the many buttons on its interface. The machine scanned it, and within a few seconds some statistics appeared on a computer screen next to it. As he read the statistics, Uzara frowned. _"53.5%- Element Unknown," _the screen read.

"Hmm. No. You're not," he said, sounding annoyed. "It's only half of what it should be. That's no good, I need the whole stone that this… thing was crafted from!" he said to himself, getting a bit angrier. He then started to settle down, and he looked back at the charm in the machine. He took it out, and held it up so he could look at it in the light. "It must be back in the Dreamworld, then," he smiled. "If the little Dreamkeeper has linked you to the Dreamworld with her power, then I should be able to easily bring your other half to _this_ world…" he said to the charm.

He held the charm in his hand, and concentrated for a brief moment before the charm began to glow a luminescent turquoise. Uzara's eyes glowed orange, and he clenched the charm tighter in his fist in an attempt to make the connection stronger. He could feel energy being absorbed and released, and could sense that his abilities were working. "It won't be long now, until your other half arrives here!" Uzara chuckled lightly at the charm. "Then, I can harness your full power, and a new age on Earth can begin!"

0ooOoo0

**END OF PROLOGUE…**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1:**

The Dreamkeeper city of Anduruna was quite possibly the largest city to ever grace the Dreamworld. It boasted a circumference of 440 miles, and was enclosed on three sides by a gigantic, ancient wall known by the Dreamkeepers as the "Sky Road". It was in a very desirable location as well, with the beautiful ranges of the Starfall Mountains to the north, south, and west- and the glistening, vibrant waters of the Alchera Ocean to the East. The city's most profound architectural achievements, the Sabbaton Towers, were located in the geographical center on Anduruna, and they housed the political elite and higher-class citizens. They contained within them a remarkable 250 floors of living spaces, gardens, schools, universities, libraries, media studios, prisons, and courts. Underneath the towers was a different story. The undersides of the towers contained the majority of the prisons, maintenance areas, and storerooms. Go a bit further, and you would find large caverns where the supports to the towers could be found, and these were often visited by schoolchildren on class trips.

Today, however there were no children visiting the caverns below the Sabbaton Towers, except for five teenage Dreamkeepers- three boys and two girls. They were not there to view the supports from the observation decks either, because they had managed to travel down even farther than any civilians were allowed to tread. They knew that they were not supposed to be down there, and that it was incredibly dangerous to travel below and into the cave systems. However, they did not care to follow these rules, since four out of the five of them had since been branded as wanted felons. Two boys were wanted for the alleged murder of their best friend at an orphanage during a thunderstorm, and the other two girls for the supposed decimation of their father's antechamber and subsequent escape. The last boy was not immediately wanted for anything, but he had sketchy relations to the Neon-Knives Streetclan, and was far from a saint himself. They were the orphans Mace and Whip, the sisters Lilith and Namah Calah, and Bast- who had joined their group yesterday.

So what reason did they have to be down here? To start, Mace and Whip had run away from the scene of a horrific crime- the murder of their best friend, Paige. Of course, they weren't the ones who committed this terrible act, but the authorities and other orphans believed that they had. They ran away until they were caught by an inventor named Scinter, who brought them to Lilith and Namah's uncle Igrath's house. They knew that the boys weren't guilty of the crime, and allowed them to stay at the house. Then, Lilith and Namah appeared, relaying how they had gotten in a fight with their father's girlfriend, Tinsel Nanaja- who was also a politician and famous pop singer, after Namah had overheard her talking with a Dreamkeeper named Ravat about a murder. The next morning a Mokoi- the greatest assassin the Nightmares possessed showed up, causing the adults in the house to hastily send the children away via telepad to an abandoned fortress on Eduro Peak hundreds of miles away. The four Dreamkeepers were starting to make their way down the mountain, when a hulking Nightmare accompanied by an insane, phase-shifting lunatic named Wisp appeared and began to give chase.

They were able to outrun Wisp and the Nightmare, and Lilith inadvertently defeated the beast by activating her Dreamkeeper power in self-defense. The next morning, their hiding place was found by Bast, who had journeyed into the Starfall Forest to locate Lilith after she did not show up for the Harvest Festival. Being led by Bast, the group finally made it back into Anduruna. They quickly made a plan to split up, and regroup at a later time. However, nothing went according to plan for any of them. Mace and Whip were chased back out of the orphanage and then traveled into the catacombs of a church to find out that a Nightmare wasn't responsible for Paige's death. They quickly met the one who _was_ responsible though, and he nearly killed them. Bast tried to get information on a figure named Nabonidus, but instead of an answer he got attacked by the Neon Knives, who almost ended him.

Lilith and Namah's father, the Viscount of Anduruna, didn't believe a word they said when they tried to explain the situation to him, and instead believed Tinsel. Namah tried to reveal her father's darkest secret to the news- her own existence, for she was illegitimate. Only they, like her father, did not believe her. Lilith had gone to the library and attempted to do research to figure out how to stop Nightmares for good. That is, until a real one ambushed her. It killed one of her friends and one of her only sources of support that she had- Mr. Peaks, the librarian, in the process. Thankfully, she was able to outwit the ghoul, and escaped to reunite with her sister. Lilith's journey was not all for naught, however. Before he died, Mr. Peaks had told her about the fabled Ancient Archives, and what knowledge they may hold regarding the information she was seeking.

That was where the group was headed now. They had since reunited and this time, no one was going to be splitting up. They agreed to stick together from now on, for safety's sake. They had just traveled down an old, mysterious flight of stone stairs in the caverns, and were now winding their way through the dark, musty cave systems that stretched below Anduruna. With only a single star-squid held by Lilith for light, the Dreamkeepers continued their journey downwards into the never-ending darkness.

0ooOoo0

"We should almost be there. I can see some carvings and tiles on the sides of these tunnels," Lilith said to her four companions as she held the orb of light in front of her. Namah walked right behind her, followed by Mace, Whip, and Bast. They had been trekking for the better part of four uneventful hours through the caves below Anduruna, and such a trip could drain the enthusiasm out of anyone.

"These caves seem to be taking forever to get through…" Bast remarked. "I don't even think we're able to tell what time of day it is!" he added.

"It shouldn't be too far ahead of us. If the information I gathered from those old news stories and books on the Ancient Archives were accurate, then we should be getting closer to it. I assure you guys, something related to fighting Nightmares has to be there…" Lilith explained. She remembered what her old friend, Mr. Peaks had told her about the Archives. Since all of the information on the subject was mysteriously deleted from public records, their only hope to find ways of combating Nightmares was the _"Infallible Archives," _as Peaks put it. Lilith was still partly shaken up about what happened to him at the mercy of that insidious Nightmare, Tendril… but she had to remain strong and united with her newfound friends against these incredible odds.

Namah put her hands behind her head as she walked, as the dark and tedious walk was beginning to wear out its welcome. "Heh, never knew caves could be so boring!" she remarked, as her green eyes shone slightly in the inky blackness.

Mace somewhat expected what the tunnels would be like, but was slightly confused at Namah's observation. "Well what did you expect them to be like? Me n' Whip used to climb around in the seaside caves in Margate all the time, and they're all pretty much like this," the boy replied. "No treasure, no pirates, no monsters… no mermaids…" Mace added, sounding particularly disappointed at the last part.

"Shneh…" Whip muttered under his breath, equally as disappointed.

"I haven't been allowed to go to any caves period," Namah replied. "Although I presumed that they would be incredibly vast- brimming with underground dwellings, bizarre plants, and fascinating creatures that can talk to you and lead you to riches… I'd imagine something like that," she explained with a tiny smile regardless if anyone could actually see it. "But no, these are dingy, dull, and so dark that we might as well walk with our hands over our eyes… _Check, please!_" she added with a yawn.

"Interesting- a creature of the night like yourself _not_ being fascinated with darkness," Mace joked.

Bast spoke up. "It's just an _act_, genius…" Bast retorted, which made Namah turn her head a little. Mace stopped smiling, and scowled. He really didn't like Bast, on account of his blunt and broody nature- and the fact that he also seemed to be vying for Lilith's attention did not help the situation at all. However for better or worse, he was entwined in their struggles as well.

"Oh, like your 'tough-guy' attitude? An act like that?" Mace replied harshly. The air between the two filled with tension as their animosity toward each other began to take hold once again.

"How do you know I'm acting?" Bast shot back. "Would you like me to prove it to you, Cheap Shot?"

"Oh, you're ready for more?" Mace said, and quickly spun around to face Bast in the darkness. Whip joined in this gesture and got in a fighting position as well. Lilith and Namah were used to this sort of thing by now, and while Namah usually wanted to encourage it for whatever reason, Lilith hated when they would try to fight each other.

"Mace! Bast! That's enough, you two!" Lilith scolded them after she turned to face them. Their ears drooped, and both of them now seemed to wear looks that could make one take pity on them. Lilith and Bast seemed to share an implicit connection and slightly growing interest in one another ever since they met that day at school, and she figured that Mace was overprotective of certain people for varying reasons because of the death of Paige. "Look, I know that we're all high-strung after what's been going on the past few days… but we all have to learn to get along and work together, guys. The fate of our families, friends, and the entire Dreamworld could be at stake here. We should be saving energy to fight the Nightmares instead of wasting it on fighting each other…" she told the boys.

"Okay, Lilith…" Bast replied with a sigh.

"You're right…" Mace added, and blinked his eyes. "But Bast should apologize to Namah before we put this behind us!" he suddenly added.

Bast realized that he couldn't argue with Mace's statement, and looked at Namah. "Um… I'm sorry Na-," he began to say with sincere intentions, but Namah put up a hand to stop him from saying anymore.

"Don't fret, Fisticuffs," Namah replied with a serious tone in her voice. "You will soon see that the 'Terror of the Towers' is truly more than a mere _act… _I'll prove it to you… One way or another…" she said ominously. She then posed her fingers in the shape of a gun, pointed them directly at Bast, and closed one of her eyes to mimic aiming it. She made a motion as if she was pulling the trigger and quickly turned back to Lilith. Her sister shrugged, and continued onward with the group following closely behind.

As Mace and Bast got back to walking, Mace stayed close to Bast and couldn't help but give a cheeky smile to him. "What's so funny?" Bast asked, annoyed.

"'Namah Revenge'…" Mace smiled. "I've been there before- you're in for a real treat!" he added in a delighted manner. He could only imagine what kind of punishment Bast would have to endure at the hands of Namah. "If I were you, I'd periodically check my scarf for venomous insects!" Mace whispered to the other boy, and briskly walked ahead of him. Bast stopped for a second, but shook his head and continued on.

While Namah was mysterious and admittedly very strange to Mace, Lilith was just the opposite. She personified everything Mace saw as the perfect girl. She was kind, thoughtful, and unassumingly sweet. Mace even saw her as the most beautiful girl he had ever seen or met. Even though they had just met a few days ago; Mace was already in love with her. Ever since he ran into her that day at the market, he had been beyond smitten with Lilith. It also helped that she had an entertaining, quirky sister in Namah. He liked her sister Namah as a friend because they had quite a bit in common, and it seemed that the two got along better each day ever since that debacle in the mountains. He wished that he could travel just with Whip, Lilith, and Namah for the entirety of what looked to be a long and grueling journey, but much to his disappointment, Bast was allowed to tag along. He still didn't fully trust this red scarf-wearing jock who had an attitude, but as far as he was concerned, he was part of the group. Mace felt that he couldn't let anyone else die because of him, especially his friends. To Mace, Bast was a potential threat- and he told himself keep an eye on him in order to protect the others.

The small band of Dreamkeepers came upon a wider passage in the caves, which gradually opened up into a much larger cavern. For some reason, it was not as dark as the rest of the caves, but it was still difficult to see without the star squid nonetheless. Everyone stopped once they had entered the cavern, and looked ahead at what occupied quite a large amount of space in the room. Before them, sat what everyone assumed must be the Archives. A collective sense of awe came over the Dreamkeepers as they beheld the building that according to Lilith was steeped in legend and mystery. It was hard for any of them to believe that they might have since been the only ones to see it for hundreds and hundreds of years.

However, it looked more like a castle or fortress rather than a library. There were multiple, short towers on either side of the structure, and it contained many stone windows as well. "Look up there!" Lilith told her friends, and pointed to what seemed to be a pipe coming from the ceiling of the cavern and all the way down to the top of the Archives. "That's the tube that they would send literature through so it could be compiled in the Archives- just like Mr. Peaks said!" she observed.

"This must be the place then!" Mace commented, and scratched his head as Lilith and Bast began to walk ahead.

"Nelya-Iyaba!" Whip chirped, and began to float around the group as he was anxious to go inside.

"Hmm, I guess these caves just became interesting for once!" Namah remarked, and moved forward, with Mace not far behind.

As Mace approached the ancient building with his companions, he reached down into his jacket and pulled out the turquoise charm that Paige had made for him. He looked at it, and remembered why they were all here in the first place. Something terrible was going on, and they might be the only ones in all of Anduruna that know how to stop it. If that twisted Ravat truly killed Paige as part of some plan, then who knows what other atrocities would be committed if nothing was done about it. And what about this Nabonidus they kept hearing about? What about Tinsel- how did she connect to all of this and that Wisp maniac in the first place? There were so many questions that needed answering and it felt like they were running out of time.

As Mace continued looking at the charm, he noticed that it had begun to give off a faint, blue glow. This puzzled Mace, as he had never seen it do anything like that before. And to his knowledge, necklaces didn't usually glow for no reason. It was awfully confusing and quite unexpected to say the least. He thought about telling his friends, but quickly decided not to, and placed it back inside his jacket. He did not feel the need to bring his friends into any more of his personal matters or drama for now, as there was work to be done.

The group made their way up to the doors of the Archives. They were incredibly old, and extremely tall as well. To the Dreamkeepers' surprise, it looked as if someone had already been inside before it was sealed- as the doors were slightly ajar. They looked at each other, and then back to the door. Bast walked forward, volunteering to enter the doorway first. Lilith handed him the star-squid, and he cautiously stepped inside. The others could hear slight scuffs and bumps coming from the entry area as they waited for Bast's return.

The boy in question suddenly poked his head out through the slip in the door, slightly startling everyone. "Coast's clear, guys. Come on in!"Bast told them, and slipped back inside. The others followed suit, stepping over the rubble that crowded the doorway and through the decrepit doors. As they entered the front hall, Bast stood there with star-squid orb in hand, waiting for them. "Lilith, this place doesn't look all that much like a library to me," said Bast. "In fact, I wasn't able to find a single book or scroll in these three rooms in the front…" he added.

"That's because these Archives were constructed during the Silent Centuries," Lilith replied. "That means the architects who built this place would have placed the chamber that the building was purposed for in the far back-center of the structure. That's where the rest of the piping that leads to all of the archived information comes to its end. The area below that room should be what we're looking for," Lilith explained without skipping a beat. She began to walk into the next room, while the others followed closely behind.

"How do you know about all of this stuff?" Bast asked with genuine curiosity. "Like, I knew you were really smart… but none of us learn anything like that in school."

"Oh, I just do a little extra research when the subject interests me, that's all," Lilith replied sweetly.

"Don't listen to her, Bast. She's probably read more literature than what is in these entire archives!" Namah teased with a smile. The joke made Mace and Whip laugh a little.

"Hey, why is it weird that I read a lot?" Lilith replied, with a smile of her own.

"It's not weird at all, if you're a huge _nerd_!" Namah replied. "You just don't want the boys to know that you're Queen of the Bookworms!"

That actually made Lilith laugh. "Cut it out, Namah! You're a nerd, too!" Lilith replied.

"Yeah, but I'm the edgier nerd," Namah replied in a surprisingly proud fashion. "I'm into neat stuff while you like boring things… like history reports!" she grinned.

"To each her own, Namah…" Lilith laughed.

0ooOoo0

Within a few minutes and surprisingly with no trouble at all, the group made it to what Lilith presumed to be the correct room. It looked to be circular in shape and possessed a tall ceiling. It was as dark as the rest of the place, and empty bookshelves along with pedestals lined the walls. In the center of the room was a circular pattern that was emblazoned on the floor. In the center of said pattern was the end of the pipe that extended upwards through the structure itself as well as the Sabatton Towers.

"Okay, this has to be it!" Lilith observed once she saw the pipe.

"Yehnah!" Whip exclaimed, and performed a loop in the air.

The others gathered around the pipe, and tried to look for any sign of an entrance to the room below. As Mace studied the pattern on the floor, he suddenly felt a slight burning sensation on his chest. He quickly remembered that Paige's necklace had been glowing, so he hastily removed it from inside his jacket. He took the charm out, and was utterly confused at what he saw. As he held it out in front of him, the charm seemed to be glowing even brighter than it was the last time he saw it! "What the…" he said to himself, and reached for the charm itself. He touched the charm, and found out that it was incredibly hot to the touch. "OUCH!" he exclaimed, and recoiled his singed hand.

This got the attention of the others. "What's wrong, Mace?" Namah asked. She then saw the charm glowing, which made her jaw drop slightly. "Mace, what the hell is that thing?" she asked in surprise.

"It's a necklace that Paige made for me the day before…" Mace began, but stopped before he mentioned what happened that night.

"Whoa…" Bast commented, and walked closer to Mace.

"How are you making it do that?" Lilith asked with great curiosity.

"I… I'm not!" Mace replied, at a loss for words. "This isn't me! It's never done this before!"

"Why is it glowing like that?" Bast inquired.

"I don't know! All I know is that it's glowing even stronger now, and that it burns if you touch it!" Mace replied, starting to get a little worried.

To everyone's concern, a light whirlwind began to encircle the group, while the charm shone even brighter. "What the hell is that thing doing?!" Namah asked, also beginning to get worried.

"Shit! I don't know how this is happening, I swear!" Mace replied with slight fear in his voice. "I'm not sure what could be causing it to do this!"

Meanwhile, the whirlwind had grown stronger, effectively enclosing everyone in the group. Bast noticed this, and tried to break through the raging circle of wind. "UGH!" he cried as it ended up knocking him on his back. Whip tried to fly above the mini-cyclone but it was no use. He was just as easily buffeted down to the ground as Bast was.

"Everyone get together!" Lilith yelled as loud as she could over the maddening wail of the wind. They all obeyed, and huddled together- hoping that the bizarre and frightening vortex would dissipate on its own. However, it didn't, and instead it grew even more powerful. All of a sudden, the light that emanated from Mace's charm began to intensify greatly, and rapidly. The light became blinding, as the vortex continued to swirl uncontrollably. Then something even stranger occurred. The Dreamkeepers could feel the light envelop them and pierce through their very bodies. They all shut their eyes as hard as they could, and a few moments later, a deafening *WHOOSH* was heard, followed by an incredibly overwhelming sensation of acceleration. They all felt themselves be whisked away by some unseen force, catching them completely off guard. No one could see where they were or where they were going. All they knew was that they were being fired through a seemingly never-ending tunnel of blinding light.

They could no longer hear their own thoughts, or contemplate which direction they were facing. The young Dreamkeepers had never felt anything like this, as not even simple teleportation via telepads was this rigorous. Somehow, they all found the strength to open their eyes, which allowed them to see past the potent light. It was then that they witnessed the most incredibly amazing yet odd sight they had ever laid eyes on. Flying past them at ridiculous speeds were stars, like the ones they would see in the night sky above Anduruna. Although now they could see swirling shapes that encompassed thousands of stars at once as well as colored vortexes. However, the overwhelming light enveloped them once more, but this time they could sense that they were starting to slow down. Their acceleration quickly began to wind down until it screamed to a standstill, leaving the group in a cosmic suspension while blinded by light. This sudden change of speed was so jarring that their heads seemed to swim with disorientation.

There wasn't much time to contemplate this, however, as they suddenly witnessed the light clearing up and disappearing around them. Rattled by the change in exposure, the teens could barely comprehend what had happened… before they began to fall through the air. They yelled and screamed in fear as they rapidly descended, thinking that they were going to die, until they realized that some ground was only about ten feet below them when they hit it. The whole group landed on the unforgiving floor of this unknown location, and laid there like slugs for a good three minutes- staring up at a familiar blue sky with no noise coming from or around them. They were still very unsure of what just happened to them, and simply did not know what to do other than to try and recount their experience.

0ooOoo0

The first to get up was Bast, who was equally as traumatized as the rest of his companions, but still able to amass enough strength to weakly stand up. With a rather feeble rise to his feet, the boy stumbled a bit, but effectively corrected himself from falling back down. He looked around for a few brief seconds, and then down to the rest of his group. "What. The. FUCK…" he managed to pant between heavy breaths.

Lilith lay with her eyes staring straight up at the sky, almost like she was dead. Thankfully though, this was not the case, as Bast slowly walked up to her to see if she was alright. She responded almost immediately, but continued to stare with her wide, stupefied eyes. "Are we dead?" Lilith asked him in a shell-shocked manner. Bast looked from her, to the others, and back to her almost emotionlessly.

"I don't think so…" Bast droned. "How… do you feel?" he then asked her.

"Alright I guess…" Lilith deadpanned. Bast shakily extended his gloved hand to help Lilith up, and after staring at it for a few seconds, she took it. As she weakly rose to her feet, Lilith felt dizzy at first. She shook her head, and that seemed to make her feel a little better. Then, they heard a familiar yet disturbing laugh coming from nearby.

"Heh heh heh hah ha ha he ha hah heh heh heh!" Namah laughed as she faced the sky while lying on the ground. She seemed to be delirious from their trip, and was now cackling like a mental patient. Bast walked up to her, and stared her straight in the eyes in an attempt to snap her out of her delirium. This seemed to work, as Namah started to wind down her laughter and slightly close her eyes. When she finally stopped giggling, she slowly opened her eyes, and saw Bast standing above her. "Heeeey, yoooooou! How'd we get out of that… place soooo fast?" Namah asked in a rather loopy manner.

"I'm not entirely sure, Namah," Bast replied, and held out his hand for her to grab. "Let's get up and talk to the others to see what they think," he added. She weakly grabbed his hand and he pulled her to her feet.

"Lemme see if I can stand up properly…" Namah replied, and let go of Bast's hand as she tried to stand up on her own- which was not easy given the condition she was in. She wobbled about for a second, and then began to fall backwards. "Noooope…" she sighed, and fell back on the ground. Bast went back to work trying to get her up, while Lilith turned her attention to Mace and Whip now that she knew her sister was alright for the most part.

Now that Lilith could walk in a straight line, she walked over to the two boys who were still lying on the ground. Mace felt her shadow fall across his face, which temporarily shielded it from the hot sun. He opened his eyes a little and sighed. "Lilith…" Mace moaned in near agony. "What the hell happened?"

"It looks like we've been transported from the Archives to… wherever this is…" Lilith explained. "The others are okay, how are you and Whip doing?" she asked in concern.

"Well, I reckon I've got at least five broken bones, a ruptured spleen, permanent brain damage, and above all- I might be paralyzed," Mace replied weakly. He then perked his ears up and looked at Lilith. "I… I'm not serious about that, I'm… kidding… just trying to make light of the situation," he added, and dropped his head back down.

"That's good to hear then," Lilith replied, and looked over at Whip. "How about you, Whip? Can you hear me?" she asked the little blue Dreamkeeper as she walked over to him. He noticed her and held out his nubby little arms toward her and made a dramatic sighing noise.

"Huyuna gardini-lomanu?" Whip asked her.

"What did he say?" Lilith asked Mace, who was slowly beginning to sit up.

"He asked if you were an angel," Mace replied with no amusement in his voice whatsoever.

Lilith looked at Whip briefly, and nodded. "Okay, I guess he checks out then," she observed. To Whips dismay, she looked away from him and over at the others. Bast had finally gotten Namah to stand up straight, and it looked as if she would now be able to walk correctly. Mace got to his feet, and picked Whip up by his comically huge ears. Little Whip hung in the air as his friend held him, and started to blink his eyes. Mace released him, and he almost immediately floated in the air before he dropped back to the ground. Lilith then saw her and Namah's duffle bag that contained their belongings for their journey. She walked over to it and opened it. After looking inside, she surmised that everything was there, including their rations and medical supplies. However, the star-squid that she had before was nowhere to be found. "Okay, our stuff seems to be intact as well," she observed, and moved the bag closer to the others.

Since they were back on their feet, and it seemed that they were free of any injuries, the Dreamkeepers began to observe their surroundings. It was obviously day time wherever they were, but the sun felt just a bit hotter than what they were used to. It looked as if they were in a small clearing covered in dirt, which contained a few gray rocks and green shrubs. They clearing was surrounded by tall, strange flo-trees. At least that is what they theorized them to be. Mace approached one of the tall trees and put his hand to its trunk. After touching it for a few seconds, he suddenly pulled his hand away as if he had been spooked. "Guys… This isn't flo-wood…" he said in a confused manner. "It feels really different- like scratchy and uneven. It's not smooth at all!"

"Okay, so these aren't flo-trees then," Lilith replied, and joined Mace by the tree. She touched its trunk as well, and came to the same conclusion. "Nope. Definitely not!" she observed, and looked at Mace. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen any tree like this in any of the Dreamworld botany almanacs- it's really weird!" she added.

A few feet away, Namah nudged Bast in the arm. "Told you she was a huge nerd!" she said quietly.

Mace and Lilith went back over to Bast, Whip, and Namah, unsure of what to say. "I think its safe to assume that this place isn't normal, guys," Lilith informed the group.

"Where do you think we are?" Namah asked as she scratched her head.

"I really don't know…" her sister replied. The rest of them looked around some more, this time at the skyline. They were obviously in the presence of mountains and hills, which were actually things that they were familiar with.

"Maybe we're just really far outside of Anduruna, or on the other side of the Starfall Mountains," Bast suggested after scanning the landscape.

"Maybe we're on the other side of the Dreamworld…" Mace suggested as his eyes grew a bit wide at the thought of such a possibility.

"Well instead of guessing, we should probably see if we can get a better view away from all of these trees," Lilith replied, and the others agreed.

"Let's try that ridge up there," Mace said, and pointed the others toward a craggy hilltop that was not far from their current position. With Mace leading the way, the young Dreamkeepers steadily made their way up the rocky hill. Feeling like they were back in the Starfall Mountains, they were now all too familiar with rock-climbing techniques. Once Mace made it to the top, he kept his head looking backwards at the others to see if they could make it up the hill. Whip quickly joined him as he floated up to Mace's position. Mace kept looking at the others who were right behind him.

"I'm up guys! Me 'n Whip will just…" he began to say, but stopped halfway when he felt Whip rapidly tapping his shoulder. The boy briefly looked at Whip, who was staring wide-eyed in silence at something he presumed to be in the distance, while frantically pointing with his little arms. Mace looked for himself, and then developed the same expression that Whip had. As the others finally made it to the top, they noticed Mace and Whip's behavior. They saw that they were looking into the distance, so they did as well. The rest of the group's jaws dropped at what they could see in the distance.

It looked to be a collection of square structures mixed in with other buildings of various shapes and sizes. To the Dreamkeepers, it looked to be a rather large city- although it did not look like any city they could ever imagine. It was situated in the middle of a huge clearing surrounded by much smaller hills and mountains in addition to more trees. There also seemed to be a river that flowed from the left side of the strange city and around its back. There was also what appeared to be a huge, paved road running up to the metropolis that served bizarre and fast groundcars that also seemed to be running without any manekales or kerricks, much to their amazement.

"What the…" Mace gasped.

"Where In the hell did we end up exactly?" Bast remarked.

"Your guesses are as good as mine…" Lilith replied in awe. "All I know is that we're definitely not close to home anymore…"

**END OF CHAPTER 1…**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

Mace, Whip, Lilith, Namah, and Bast stood near the edge of the tall cliff, unable to believe their own eyes. Just a few miles away, lay an entirely foreign city that seemed to be constructed in great contrast to their home city of Anduruna. Unsure of what its function was, or who exactly lived there, the Dreamkeepers could only employ their imaginations as to what should await them if they dare approach it. Bast was the first to wake from his shock-induced trance. He glared over at Mace, who was still awestruck at the moment.

"What the hell is this all about, Mace?" Bast asked in a tone that was full of hostility. The other boy looked back at Bast, unsure of what to say. Bast then stomped over to him and forcefully grabbed him by the jacket collar.

"UGH! I don't know what you're talking about, Bast!" Mace replied with confusion and annoyance as the raging Bast held him, his eyes lighting up like fire.

"Oh yes you do! This happened when that necklace you're always carrying around started to glow! Then, it caused that whirlwind that warped us to this place!" Bast shot back, and pulled Mace closer. Lilith and Namah saw what was going on, and turned their attention to the boys.

"BAST! Cut it out! He doesn't know what's going on either!" Lilith yelled in vain, but Bast ignored her. He was seriously confused and, although he would not readily admit it; frightened, as he had never faced a situation like this before. Unlike Bast, the others in the group had dealt with a similar situation like the one they were currently in before- when Igrath sent them away in a hurry to a fortress in the Starfall Mountains via telepad. However in that situation, a look outside of a door was all that was needed there to assuage any confusion- as they could easily see their home from where they had ended up. This was definitely not the case with what had just happened to them today.

"Why is this happening?! What's the deal with that necklace?!" Bast yelled in anger. He was then blindsided by Whip, who quickly wrapped his long tail around Bast's neck and roughly yanked him away. The sudden force caused Bast to drop Mace on the cliff, while he fell backwards himself. From the ground, Bast scowled at Whip. "You're really freaking annoying, you know that?" he growled. Mace quickly got to his feet and stood to face Bast, who had also gotten back up. Mace scowled, and looked Bast straight in the eyes.

"I told you! I have no idea why my necklace is doing this! I've only had it for a few days and it's never done anything like that before!" Mace replied in anger.

As he panted, Bast's expression softened just a bit. Whereas before, his stance indicated that he was ready to fight- he had now somewhat loosened up. "Alright. Then how did you get it? Did you buy it off some shady street vendor at the Festival, or what?" he asked suspiciously, as the others looked on.

Mace closed his eyes briefly and then opened them. "My friend Paige made it for me, okay?" he replied quietly. He held up the charm as it was still glowing, and looked at it before returning his attention to Bast. "She gave it to me the day before she died… She made one for herself too, so that if we were ever sad or bored then we could think of each other and how much fun we had…" he explained with obvious grief and sadness in his voice. Bast's eyes widened a bit.

"She's your friend who died?" Bast asked in a more sensitive manner. Mace nodded slowly, and kept his eye on the other boy.

"Yes. And no matter what the news says, I didn't murder her! I could never do that! She was me and Whip's best friend…" Mace replied solemnly, with an affirmative nod from Whip. He didn't even care if Bast saw him get emotional, as everyone's emotions were running high since the situation they were in was quite dire to say the least. "Now I don't know how this necklace was able to transport us here, but I do damn well know that I didn't control it. It's as much a mystery to me as it is to you guys. I don't know if Paige has something to do with it either, but instead of standing on this cliff and accusing each other we should try to find some help or at least a map of some kind. Then we can figure out how to get back home. And while we're at it, maybe we can figure out what's going on with this charm and even if Paige is somehow connected to all of this," Mace explained.

Bast sighed, and walked back over to where Mace and the others were standing. "Fine. I'll believe you for now…" Bast replied warily. "But if one thing in this entire picture points to you as the culprit, I'm going to make sure that you're sorry," he added, and looked back to the mysterious city without a word from Mace.

Lilith looked from Bast to Mace, who was still holding the necklace, and was about to say something to him. Although her brow rose when she saw what the necklace was doing. "Mace, what is your necklace doing now?!" she asked as if she was surprised. This got the attention of the others, who also looked at the necklace. Mace acknowledged her, and looked at the necklace he was holding. To his amazement, the charm was now floating in the air as it was pulling the string that held it in the same direction. It hadn't stopped glowing from what had happened before either.

"What the heck?" Mace said to himself as he took a closer look at the charm.

"Oh spirits, it's not going to flip gravity or something is it?" Namah shuddered as she slowly backed away from Mace. The group waited for a few moments… but nothing else happened. Strangely though, Mace could feel a small amount of force pulling the charm in a specific direction. He pulled the charm by its string from the air and steadied it with his fingers. He then let it go, and watched it gravitate in the air as if it was being attracted to something.

"It's being drawn to something…" Lilith observed.

"I'm pretty sure you're right," Mace replied in a curious manner, as he repeated the process of pulling it and letting it go.

"But where is it pointing towards?" Bast asked. Mace let the charm go one more time, and then looked in the direction that it was being pulled towards. The rest of the group followed Mace's lead by observing the necklace's positioning, and they all came to the same conclusion. Now, all of them were gazing back at the strange city, believing that whatever attracting the charm had to be there…

0ooOoo0

It took the Dreamkeepers roughly an hour to reach the bottom of the steep series of hills where consistently level ground was located. Along the way down, the group encountered more of the same scenery they had seen once they arrived in this odd place. Nothing but tall trees, shrubs, brown dirt, and gray rocks as far as the eye could see. They would hear a strange sound every now and then, but they figured that the local wildlife was responsible for that. The kids had finally reached the bottom of the embankments and proceeded to trek across a mostly open stretch of land that lay between the mountains and the city they were traveling towards. They could see the paved road with the fast-traveling groundcars in the distance to their right, but they didn't dare tread any closer than they had to for fear of them being caught for trespassing- if there was even such a punishment to be had in this situation. All of them continuously scanned their surroundings for any hint of danger, but so far they could detect nothing of the sort. The only emotion that was in no short supply was anticipation.

As they continued their approach, the Dreamkeepers could see how big the buildings that they first saw from far away really were. They seemed quite tall and intimidating to them already, and the travelers were only halfway to the edge of the city. Although none of the buildings were anywhere near as big as the Sabbaton Towers, there were more humongous buildings here than when compared to Anduruna.

"Heh, no walls!" Namah observed dryly. "The people who live here must be really friendly, then," she added as if she was reaching a profound conclusion.

"Who knows…" Mace replied. There was a twinge of nervousness in his voice as he, like the others, had no idea what to expect from this bizarre city. On the way down the mountain, Lilith had reminded them that they might be very, very far away from Anduruna. That complicated their entire situation for sure, as the citizens might not even speak their same language. Judging from their possession of self-propelled groundcars, the citizens could be part of an advanced civilization of Dreamkeepers, who could see their small group as inferior to them and only worthy of being moving targets for lazer-springers!

"Let's hope that they are actually friendly, or at least willing to help us out," said Lilith.

"We can only hope…" Bast added.

0ooOoo0

Within the hour, the group had made it to the very edge of the imposing city. Namah directed the others toward an opening that had been made in a wooden fence bordering a discreet alleyway. They all walked through, and entered an alley that looked very much like the ones back in Anduruna. It was strewn with garbage cans, boxes, and outdoor piping just like they would expect. Really, all that was missing were clotheslines laden with drying undergarments and t-shirts. This gave them a small amount of comfort, for they could feel a sense of familiarity in albeit the rather dingy alleyway. Perhaps the city was only foreign and intimidating on the outside. Maybe once they got out onto the street, they would feel less confused and helpless after seeing other Dreamkeepers.

The children walked out the end of the cramped alleyway… and into the very kind of thing that would enhance their confusion rather than reduce it. Before their utterly bewildered and entranced eyes, the group saw dozens upon dozens of what they assumed to be Dreamkeepers- that all looked almost exactly the same. They were dressed about as normal as the kids would expect; some wore suits, others wore casual attire, while a few wore what they would describe as "counter-culture" garbs. Some of them were either looking at or talking into small devices that could fit in the palm of their hand. They wondered what this could be, until one of the pedestrians walked by their alley and they could hear what he was saying.

"No wait, Samuel! I need those schematics to be finished and sent to Liu Wei in Beijing by the twenty-eighth! You can't leave early tonight if we're in the middle of a big project like this… fine, I'll call you later and we can discuss it further!" the man said as he held the device, and then pressed a button on what appeared to be a very small screen. The Dreamkeepers assumed that the device must be used for communicating, which they thought was very incredible. The only communication devices that they were familiar with were data-scrolls, and those were much bigger than what the man had. Perhaps Mace was partly right in guessing that this city was partially more advanced than Anduruna.

"What IS this place?" Bast found himself asking out loud.

"Hmm… Judging by the advanced tech that these citizens are packing in the palm of their hands, and the fact that all of them look almost identical to one another…" Namah observed coyly. "It would occur to me that we have stumbled upon a city of incestuous, business-savvy, technologically advanced Dreamkeepers," she explained in a serious manner, much to the surprised looks of her companions. Everyone stood and stared at her for a few seconds, unsure of what to say.

"Namah, why would you bring that up?!" Lilith suddenly scolded her sister.

"What?! Am I really the only one that was thinking it?!" Namah asked in defense with her arms raised.

"Yes!" everyone unanimously replied.

Namah frowned, and crossed her arms. "You've got to admit, it's possible…" she mumbled.

"It's possible, Namah. But we don't want to jump to conclusions before we absolutely know what's going on here," Lilith explained.

"Did anyone listen closely to what that guy was saying?" Bast asked the others. "What's Beijing?"

"Uh… a sound that you make when you sneeze?" Mace replied sheepishly.

"I'm being serious here, Mace," Bast replied in a rather annoyed tone, and turned back towards Lilith and Namah. Mace just mouthed Bast's words silently back at him and rolled his eyes after he turned away, much to Whip's amusement.

"I've never heard of that place before…" Lilith replied. She thought for a few seconds, and looked at her friends. "I don't know. We should try and get some answers before night falls and we're stuck outside without a place to sleep," she explained.

"So, we just go out there and ask someone where we are and how to get back to Anduruna?" Mace asked.

"Precisely, and the sooner we get it done, the better!" Lilith replied with an encouraging smile.

"Sounds like a plan!" Namah commented.

"Hang on guys…" Bast interjected. "Shouldn't we try to, I dunno… disguise ourselves a bit? I mean these people don't seem like your average Dreamkeepers, and we look really different compared to them. In case we stir something up by showing ourselves, we should try to cover ourselves a bit more so that we blend in the crowd," he explained with a thoughtful expression.

"That's an excellent plan, Bast!" Namah complemented as she smiled at him with the most alluring look she could give. Ever since they had met, Namah had developed a crush on Bast because of his rebellious yet laid-back nature. Mace and Whip were actually beginning to catch on to this, but Lilith and even Bast himself seemed completely unaware of Namah's feelings for the scarf-wearing delinquent. Strangely enough, even the debacle she had in the caves with Bast didn't seem to stifle her affections for him one bit.

"Better safe than sorry, am I right?" Bast replied, to which the whole group easily agreed. The boy then turned his attention to the bag they had brought with them. "So, what extra clothes did you guys bring?" he asked as he opened the bag.

"I kept the jackets and hats that we found in the Starfall fortress, some stuff that Mace and Whip brought, as well as my and Namah's stuff," Lilith explained, and helped Bast search through the clothes. Within seconds, they procured the gear that they had worn in the Starfall Mountains, as well as a coat for Bast. Mace's hand reached into the bag for something, and it came out holding the jester mask that he had found when they got back to Anduruna. As he pulled the accessory out, Mace smirked with glee. Bast recognized the mask, and only remembered the annoyance and anger he associated with it.

"Did you seriously keep that stupid thing?" Bast said to Mace, while sounding annoyed as ever.

Mace just replied to Bast's remark with a smarmy look that acknowledged the other boy's discomfort. "Of course I did, buddy! Don't you worry, I won't wear him- I just wanted to bring him along! We wouldn't want to forget all of the fun times we've had with this thing, now would we?" Mace teased with a grin.

"Don't make me break your nose!" Bast shot back.

0ooOoo0

A few minutes later, the Dreamkeepers cautiously emerged from the alleyway, dressed in extra clothes in an effort to hide their true appearances. Mace held Whip by the tail like a balloon the same way he had when he went to the church in the Theophanies District back in Anduruna. The group continued forward until they got to a sidewalk on the edge of another paved road. They discovered that this road had more of the self-propelled groundcars travelling on it, and it seemed as if they were going pretty fast. They were quite varied in size and appearance, and they looked to serve many of the same purposes that regular groundcars did. There were some that looked sleek and luxurious and there were some that looked more worn and dated in comparison to the nicer ones. A few of them were large and had storage containers on their beds, and a few were open-ended in the back. It also seemed that the people inside them still had to control the groundcars themselves. There was also a low, growling noise that the vehicles emitted, and the Dreamkeepers could not determine what was causing it.

The kids noticed that there did not seem to be any immediate means to get across the road, and they didn't dare try to cross the busy street with those fast vehicles barreling through. They then saw a group of citizens walk up to a pole with various devices on it, and one of them pressed a metal button. The group waited a few seconds, and witnessed lights above the street where the vehicles were traveling turn from a luminescent green, to a dull yellow, and finally to a bright red. The Dreamkeepers watched as the vehicles slowed down and eventually came to a complete stop before two white lines that were painted on the road. Then, the group of citizens walked together across the street while they kept between the white lines. Once they reached the other side, the lights turned green again and the vehicles resumed moving.

"So that's how we'll get across…" Lilith said to the others, and they all walked up to the pole as more citizens joined them. One of the strangers pressed the button, and shortly, the traffic stopped and they were able to cross. As they crossed the busy street, the Dreamkeepers felt anxious and cautious, for even though traffic on all fronts had stopped, they were still not familiar with this particular routine. Once they had reached the other side safely, the group continued on down the sidewalk, where more and more pedestrians could be seen. In a way, it began to remind them of Anduruna's crowded and bustling thoroughfares. This place seemed so familiar yet at the same time kind of alien to the young Dreamkeepers. Whatever the case may have been, they had to find a way home and back to the Archives- and if at all possible, an explanation for the behavior of Mace's charm as well.

As they continued down the sidewalk, hoping to find someone who looked friendly enough to get some answers from, the companions passed what they assumed to be a store that sold data-scrolls. At least that was the most familiar thing they could equate it to. Behind the shop's glass window, the young Dreamkeepers could see about fourteen flat-screens that had images and video being projected onto them like data-scrolls. However, they knew that these devices weren't data-scrolls because they were not transparent at all, and the picture quality actually seemed to be a bit clearer. The group just predicted that these were newer, more advanced data-scrolls in comparison to the ones in Anduruna. This could make sense because if there was a civilization of Dreamkeepers beyond Anduruna then they would most certainly have different technology. However, the most interesting details about the devices were in the subjects of the images themselves. Each of them had different content as well. Although, all of the videos featured people that were similar to the hundreds that surrounded them on the streets at that very moment.

One of them showed what appeared to be a game-show (although it wasn't one that they had ever heard of), with the host speaking into a microphone and prompting the contestants to spin a huge, colorful wheel with numbers on it. Whip continued to happily watch this, while the others shifted their attention to see what else was showing. In another program, which seemed to be a drama of some sort, there was a group of four or five people covered in tattered clothing and bruises, holding what the kids determined to be some sort of springer-type weapons and walking down an empty road in the middle of a forest. Perhaps the weirdest program they saw was a hand-drawn cartoon that seemed to be about a yellow square with a high-pitched voice and a pink star of some kind in swim-shorts, talking to a particularly miffed brown, fluffy thing that was also in a bathing suit.

"_What's so great about dumb 'ol Texas, anyway?" _the pink star asked his friend in a voice that suggested he was a bit slow. Not knowing what the hell this was about, they turned their attention to probably the most interesting program they could see in the store display.

It looked to be the most familiar out of all the programs showing, yet it still featured the same, similar-looking people as the others. They could obviously tell it was a newscast, but the topics that were being discussed were ones that the Dreamkeepers weren't familiar with at all. The bottom-left of the frame was enclosed by a red and silver border, with the big letters, CNN in the same colors featured in bold. Above the logo, there was a small list of what they assumed was already discussed and yet-to-be discussed topics. These said things like "Indian and Egyptian National elections set to begin soon," and "Approaching 100th anniversary of the Great War." However, the most interesting topic was the one that was currently being discussed by the anchor.

"_President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin have had successful peace talks today in Moscow, effectively ending the standoff between Russian and Ukrainian forces near Crimea's border. Further negotiations with the European Union as well as NATO will commence next week," _the anchor said to the audience.

The group of young Dreamkeepers looked at each other with worried expressions. "Okay, this is starting to actually scare me…" Lilith said to the others. "What are those places?! I've never heard of them before!" she exclaimed.

"Guess we should just add them to the list, then…" Namah commented.

"This is worrying me just as much, Lilith. Those weird places aren't all that's bothering me, either. What about how similar these people look?" Bast replied. "I'm starting to think that Mace's necklace did more than just teleport us out of the Archives!" he added, and shot an accusing glance towards Mace.

"I TOLD YOU! I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS!" Mace yelled at Bast, which made a few pedestrians glance over at them while they walked by.

"Shhhh!" Lilith said to him. "We don't need to attract unwanted attention!" she scolded. "We don't think you had anything to do with the necklace's behavior, Mace. Just try to keep yourself composed while we're here, alright?" she told him gently. Mace let out a heavy sigh, and closed his eyes.

"Okay, I'm sorry Lilith…" Mace apologized, and glared back at Bast, who could just frown. They all began to walk away from the store, that is, except for Whip. He was still watching the game show, so Mace had to pull him away by his tail. "Come on, Whip…" Mace growled. Whip resisted a bit, but eventually came away and joined the others.

Before the situation could get worse, Lilith decided to look for someone that they could get directions from. She spotted a relatively average-looking man with a generic-looking hat sitting on some steps outside of a house. "Excuse me, sir!" she called to him in a polite manner. The man quickly looked over at her.

"Yes?" he asked in a polite manner as well. "How can I help you, Miss?"

Lilith and the others walked over to him, and they could tell that he was eyeing them suspiciously because of the excess amount of clothing they were wearing. "Hello, my colleagues and I were just wondering how far the city of Anduruna is from here," Lilith said to him. The man thought to himself for a moment before answering Lilith's question.

"Hm… I've never heard of that city before…" the man replied with a kind yet apologetic smile. "Is it in Michigan?" he asked.

Lilith and the others' faces went totally blank. "No…" Lilith replied, sounding confused. "Actually, could I ask what this city is called?" she asked.

"Well, this is Marcadia. Are you from around here?" he answered, and asked sincerely.

Lilith shook her head. "No, we're from Anduruna," she replied. "We're trying to get back there, it's where we live."

"Sorry to say, but I've never heard of the place," the man replied. "If you want to get back there, though, I'd suggest you and your friends take the bus, train, or a plane. It's the quickest way by far."

Lilith and the others knew that this man had helped them as much as he could, so they decided to leave him alone and try some of his suggestions. "Okay, then. Thanks for your help, sir!" Lilith replied with a smile, and walked back towards her companions. The man waved her goodbye, and went back to relaxing on the steps. Lilith looked at the others, with an even more confused demeanor than before. "I guess we should try doing what he said to…" she told them. "I don't know what any of those things he talked to us about are, but we should try to use them if necessary to get back home before we run out of time."

0ooOoo0

While wandering around the bizarre streets of what they now knew was Marcadia, the group eventually found what they could recognize as an information booth. Fortunately, there was no line, and the Dreamkeepers could walk straight up to the window. The elderly lady working the booth greeted them and Lilith stepped forward. "Hello, Ma'am. We're looking for ways to take either a bus, train… or plane!" Lilith tried to explain to her, even though she didn't know what any of those things were.

"I can help with that!" the lady cheerfully replied. "You can buy tickets here instead of at the designated facilities themselves if you want to as well. After that, all you have to do is go to one of the stations marked on the city map over here and show them your ticket," she explained.

"Alright then, which kind is the cheapest?" Lilith asked with a smile.

"The bus is the most affordable way to go, dear. Although if you want to try another mode of transportation you can," the woman replied.

"Hm. We'll just go with the bus, thank you," Lilith replied.

They could hear the woman typing something on what they recognized as a keyboard, before she looked back at them. "That should be easy to get for you, Dear," the woman explained. "May I see your I.D. first?" she suddenly asked. Lilith froze when she asked. The only I.D. she had was one that belonged to Mr. Peaks that she had taken to escape the tower's library when she found out he had been killed by that Nightmare, Tendril. She knew that it obviously wouldn't work in this situation, but she didn't know what other I.D. she could possibly need to have.

"I hate to be a burden, Ma'am, but I don't have any I.D. I didn't know I was supposed to have one," Lilith replied, hoping that she would take pity on them and grant her a ticket anyway.

Sadly, this didn't look to be the case. "I'm sorry, Miss. But if you can't prove your age, then you can't buy any tickets…" the woman replied in a sensitive manner.

Lilith's ears drooped under her hat, and her smile faded. "Alright, thank you…" she sadly replied before walking off to the side. The others followed her over to an area where other people were sitting in benches.

"It's okay, Lilith… we tried," Mace consoled.

"I don't understand though… where would we get an I.D. card for ourselves? We don't work anywhere important…" Lilith sighed to herself.

Just then, a young man that seemed to be in his early twenties got up from a nearby bench with his backpack after he heard what the Dreamkeepers were saying. "Hello?" he asked warily. The kids cautiously turned around to look at him. He was almost six feet tall, had peach skin, and neatly cut brown hair on his head. "Are you guys having some trouble with getting a ticket or something?" he asked in a friendly manner.

The Dreamkeepers slowly nodded, and Lilith stood back up. "Yes, sir. They won't let me buy tickets because I don't have an I.D…" Lilith replied.

"Why do you need to buy tickets? Where are you going?" the young man asked.

"We… just want to get home..." Lilith sighed. Her companions nodded, and blinked their eyes.

"It's kind of urgent that we do so as soon as possible," Bast explained.

The young man looked at them for a brief moment, and closed his eyes. "Okay, I have an I.D., so I'll help you guys get those tickets," he replied. The Dreamkeepers' expressions lightened, and they seemed very surprised.

"You will?!" Mace asked incredulously.

The young man nodded back at him. "Come on, let's go get them!" he replied, and led the way back to the information booth. Once they got there, they went straight up to the same window as before. "Hello, Miss," the young man said to the lady inside. "I'm going to need four bus tickets, please!"

The woman typed on her keyboard, and turned back to the young man, who already had his I.D. out and ready to show to her. She took it, and examined it for a few seconds, then smiled and returned it to him. "Everything seems to check out, sir," she replied happily. "Now where would you like to go?"

The man turned back to the Dreamkeepers, and asked them where they were headed. They told him, and he looked back at the lady. "Four tickets to An-dur-u-na, please?" he asked, struggling to pronounce the name of the city correctly. The lady typed on her keyboard, and quickly frowned.

"I'm so sorry, hun- but it seems like the place you're looking for doesn't exist…" she told him.

The young man turned to the Dreamkeepers, and then back to the lady. "Are you sure? Could you please check again?" he replied. The woman searched the database again, but once more, found nothing.

"I'm sorry, sir… it's just not here," she replied, sounding truly sorry.

The young man could only nod in discomfort. "Alright, Miss. Thank you…" he replied, and turned back to the Dreamkeepers who were eagerly awaiting good news. "Guys… the place you're looking for doesn't exist," he told them.

The Dreamkeepers' morale seemed to plummet in that very moment. "Wha- what do you mean it doesn't exist?!" Namah protested.

"This is impossible…" Lilith said to herself in a bewildered manner.

"I don't know what to tell you guys… I'll try to help anyway I can!" the young man told the group of distraught Dreamkeepers. "Do you know where Anduruna is? Do you know how to get there? Because I can drive you if you want," he offered.

"No… no, it won't help…" Bast replied.

"We have no idea where it could be… Hell, we don't even know exactly where we are!" Namah exclaimed. "This other guy was talking about some Michigan place or something, I dunno! We've never heard of it!"

These comments made the young man raise an eyebrow. "Wait… what's going on here? How could you not know where you are, or what Michigan is?" he asked suspiciously. The Dreamkeepers began to think some more about their current predicament, as well as the young man's reaction.

"How could you not know what Anduruna is?" Mace asked the man.

There was a very awkward silence between the two parties for a few minutes, until the young man stepped forward as he picked up his backpack. "Well… it's getting late and I'm assuming that you guys don't have a place to stay, am I right?" he asked. The Dreamkeepers could only nod in return. "Okay then. I'll let you guys crash at my place for the night, and we can discuss this further," he told them.

"Thank you. That's very kind of you, Mr…" Lilith replied with gratitude, but stopped because she remembered that she didn't know his name.

"Call me Tucker, guys," the young man said to the group, and slung his backpack over his shoulder. "I just got home from a business meeting so I'll be heading back to my place in a few minutes. I'll let you guys stay, but in return, I'm going to need some answers. Starting with your names…" Tucker told them.

"My name's Mace," Mace said.

"I'm Bast," Bast added.

"I'm known as Namah," Namah replied. "And you've already met Lilith," she added and pointed to her sister, who waved back shyly.

"Okay then… Nice to meet you all!" Tucker replied with a friendly smile. "My place isn't too far from here, but expect a little walk before we get there," he warned.

"No sweat, dude! We're all no strangers to walking, right guys?" Namah asked her companions slyly. She was only met with silence. "I guess I remember it more fondly, I suppose…"

**END OF CHAPTER 2…**


	4. Chapter 3

"_Why can't I go out and see that city for myself?" _Paige had asked Dr. Watterson earlier that day as she pointed to the city across the river. They had been standing at the window of the penthouse, looking out over the landscape.

"_Because our race is between a rock and a hard place," _Watterson replied as he adjusted his glasses and tied back his hair into the ponytail style that he had established as his usual look. _"We Humans have known about a few 'alien' species for decades now, but ever since what happened to two of our major cities, named Hong Kong and Chicago- the Human race as a whole has become very skeptical and wary of non-Human races."_

Paige didn't know what to think of this. _"What happened to those places?" _she asked.

Watterson tensed up, and gently turned to her. _"They…" _he began, as Paige waited for the answer. _"Actually, forget it. You don't need to know the details, Paige. You'll be fine here with us!" _he suddenly said with a more friendly expression. Paige was startled by his obvious protective decision, but figured that the reasons for what Watterson was talking about were very complicated, and not meant for children's ears.

"_The fact is we could get in a lot of trouble if we were to talk about you or reveal what you are at the wrong time, that's all…" _Watterson added. _"Heck, I don't even know what we would classify you as, sweetie. If what Mr. Cojita says is true, then you would be from another dimension that is somehow connected to our own… although to tell you the truth, I'm not sure how he would know that, or how he would know what to do to bring you here. All I do know is that it's scientifically proven that he's got unnatural abilities- that might be able to change our world for the better if they're used properly," _he explained.

0ooOoo0

Paige had planned to ask them about more things, but remembered that they were on some sort of schedule that determined when they would work on other… experiments. In the meantime, she kept herself busy by exploring Mister Cojita's penthouse, and looking over the world outside through the big window. The sun was beginning to dip under the horizon, and it cast a blood-orange glow all over the landscape. As Paige watched the sun slowly set, she decided to walk into the next room, which served as the penthouse den- a place to enjoy books, music, or television. It was just as lavish as the rest of Uzara's living quarters, with high-quality red carpet and expensive, rare art pieces hanging on the walls. It is here that Paige located one of her newfound friends.

Doctor Hanford was sitting on a lounge chair in the penthouse den, dressed in more casual attire and reading a novel. He could see Paige walking over to him, so he put the book down and gave his attention to her. "Hello, Paige. How are you doing so far?" the old scientist asked in his friendly manner. Paige walked closer to him, and set her eyes on his book.

"Mr. Hanford? What is that you're reading?" she asked curiously. "It looks neat…" she added. Hanford smiled and picked up the book to show to the young Dreamkeeper.

"Ah, this is one of my favorites!" Hanford replied cheerfully. "It's called The Lord of the Rings, and it was written by a man named John Ronald Reuel Tolkien sixty years ago," he explained.

"Wow, it's that old?" Paige asked, becoming more interested. She took a seat next to Hanford on an ottoman, and peered over at the book.

"That it is, Paige," Hanford replied. "Its very good, though."

"What is it about?" Paige asked, wanting to know more.

"Well, its about a ring, like the title suggests, but not just any ring. It is a ring of power. The ring is found, and these short, fat little men known as Hobbits must travel across their world to destroy it inside a mountain of fire- before the Dark Lord Sauron can find them and reclaim the ring," Hanford told her.

"Oh wow! That's such an awesome idea for a story!" Paige replied enthusiastically, which amused Hanford. "I had a friend named Bobby back in my world. He used to tell the best bedtime stories to all of us orphans, unless he wasn't able to be there a certain night. Then, my other friend, Vi would fill in for him- but her stories were never as good as Bobby's," she excitedly said to Hanford, who lost a little bit of his smile as she explained the last part.

"Paige, you're… an orphan?" he asked sensitively. Paige looked back at him as she just recalled what she had said.

"Oh… yeah…" she replied sadly. Hanford looked at Paige and sat up.

"I'm so sorry, young one…" he said to her, and brought her into a gentle hug. She gladly accepted it, as she was beginning to feel the weight of her previous life swing back to hit her over the head. She composed herself however, and was careful not to start crying. Hanford released her from the hug, and stood up. "I had no idea… none of us had any idea that your parents were gone!" he said.

"It's alright, I didn't tell you guys when I met you," Paige replied.

"I hope you don't think badly of us-," Hanford began to say, but the little Dreamkeeper stopped him.

"I don't Mr. Hanford," Paige responded. "Now that I think about it, I actually want to thank you all for helping to bring me back to life on your world." Hanford was actually surprised to be hearing this. "I really did die in the Dreamworld… that is, until you and your friends saved me. You guys gave me a second chance to live, and for that, I really am grateful…" Paige explained, with tears beginning to well in her eyes.

Hanford kneeled down to her level and gave her another consoling hug. "It's alright, Paige. We'll all be here to help you through this, no matter what," he said to her as if she was his own daughter. As Dr. Hanford embraced the impressionable Paige, she could feel a familiar sense of comfort that she hadn't experienced in years. It was at this time that she began to seriously contemplate the possibility of staying with the friendly scientists and Uzara for the rest of her life. In this moment, she felt as if she could truly accept them as friends.

"Hanford!" Dr. Linden called from the laboratory. "Come here, Mr. Cojita needs our assistance in the lab!"

Hanford released Paige and stood back up. "Coming, Linden!" he yelled back, and then looked down at Paige. "I have to go work in the lab for a bit, okay? We should all be done in a bit though, so when we are we'll all read some more stories together before bed, alright?" he added and winked at her with a smile.

"Alright!" Paige replied happily as she nodded. Hanford left the room to go to the laboratory, so she walked over to another lounge chair across from the one Hanford was in, and sat down on it. She began to feel a bit lonely with no one around, and she figured that the scientists would be working for a few more hours.

"_Mace and Whip would have a blast here! But they'd probably break all of Mr. Uzara's stuff…" _Paige thought to herself, and wondered what they could be doing back in the Dreamworld at that time. Then, she remembered her necklace that she had made to symbolize Mace. She reached around her neck for the charm, but felt nothing. She looked down, and saw that she was no longer wearing it around her neck! She thought back to that morning, and then recalled that she hadn't put it on when she was getting dressed either, because she thought that she wore it the whole night. She didn't want to lose her precious necklace, as it was the only thing remaining from her old life besides the clothes that she wore. She wanted to search for it, so she decided to start in the den where she had just been.

0ooOoo0

Upon hearing his name called, Dr. Hanford walked briskly into the laboratory where Uzara and the other scientists were waiting. "There you are, Dr. Hanford," Uzara greeted flatly. Hanford walked by his boss and stood with the other scientists across from him.

"She's an orphan," Hanford said to Uzara as he shot a stern look at him.

"Oh is she?" Uzara asked as if he was only slightly interested.

"Yes, an orphan!" Hanford snapped back. "Did you know this when you brought her here?" he asked.

"Unfortunately no," Uzara replied coldly. "But now that we do know, we will make all of the necessary accommodations for her…"

"That's… good to know," Hanford replied warily. Uzara just shot him an ornery glare.

"Now as I was about to say- before Mr. Hanford distracted me, that the reason I called you all here is to discuss the next phase of my experiment!" Uzara declared.

"And what would that consist of, sir?" Dr. Mason asked.

"Gentlemen, the next phase of my experiment… is the revival of Project Riftgate!" Uzara explained enthusiastically. This immediately startled the scientists in the room.

"Whoa, whoa, wait. Project Riftgate?" Watterson asked incredulously. "Do you mean the 'top secret' Project Riftgate?"

"Precisely, Watterson," Uzara replied. "I've already contacted our men down at the Groom Lake facility, and they have begun maintenance on the primary pieces of equipment there. The devices will be operational within two days," he explained.

"How did our division scrounge up enough funds to reinvigorate Project Riftgate?!" asked a surprised Linden. "Was it the government?"

"No, it wasn't the government…" Uzara replied, and looked at each of the scientists. "They would never gamble with the funds necessary to reinstate the project. So instead, I turned to private firms- but not exactly to appropriate funds from them. Instead, I got them to build the components necessary for the project on their own. Through a little convincing, I was able to obtain said parts after they were built for a much cheaper price than if we were to go through the government," he explained. "I also had this done many years ago, so that we could build up funding between then and now."

"What firms did you contract to develop those parts?" Mason asked, becoming more interested.

"Both firms I was initially considering turned me down when I approached them three years ago. However, given their expertise in the field, I was able to convince Aperture Laboratories to develop the components and ship them to Nevada. So, with respect, I ask you all to undertake this project as my assistants," Uzara explained.

"Well I'll be damned, we're actually going through with Project Riftgate…" Linden commented. "Although, I have to ask. How did you get Washington to approve this sort of thing? Especially after what's been happening recently."

"Simple answer. I didn't!" Uzara replied, shocking everyone.

"You didn't get their approval, and yet you told the Groom Lake facility to go ahead and work on it?!" Hanford inquired.

Uzara held his hands out in front of him, and smiled. "My colleagues, of course I did not ask them for permission to do something like this… They would have never said yes!"

"There must be a reason for them not to approve it, then!" Watterson fumed.

"Easy, Watterson!" Uzara hissed. "I'll have you know that I didn't ask them for permission to go through with our most recent experiment, either," he smiled.

"You must be joking, sir!" Mason exclaimed, feeling both shocked and angry. "You know that we're supposed to follow protocols no matter what!"

"I knew. But given the brevity of the experiments at hand, I decided to take the chance no matter what the cost may be. I can only hope that the payoff will be good enough to negate the consequences of whatever happens in this division…" Uzara explained calmly.

"Does that mean we're your parachutes or something then?" Watterson grumbled.

"Perhaps you are. All you must know is that you were all a part of the experiment that brought that little Dreamkeeper here as well. You would also face the wrath of the bureaucracy if someone were to find out what we've been doing at this facility," Uzara said to each of his scientists. They now wore looks of bewilderment and astonishment on their faces at the sudden realization that what Uzara said was true. They had helped in bringing Paige to Earth without the permission of the government, and if there were any consequences to be had from it, then they would share the punishment as well.

"I hired all of this facility's employees because I can trust them to work with me and not against me- no matter what the situation may be on the outside… and that criteria also applies to you four!" Uzara told them.

"Alright then, we won't say a word to anyone about this…" Linden replied, and turned his head towards his fellow scientists. "Right, guys?"

"Agreed, Dr. Linden…" Mason added. The other scientists nodded slowly in agreement.

Uzara straightened his tie, and flashed a smile at his four scientists. "See? It's good that we've gotten those details cleared up now, isn't it?" he asked with a sly grin. "Now, if you all would please follow me…" he told them, and led them to a table in the back of the lab. On it, the scientists saw a small case that looked as if it was made for storing jewelry. Uzara picked up the small case, and opened it to show the scientists what was inside. They saw a little necklace with what looked to be a carved charm of a Dreamkeeper like Paige at its end. The most alluring aspect of it however, was how brightly it was glowing.

"What is that supposed to be?" Hanford asked as he looked over the necklace.

"This is what will help connect Project Riftgate to the Dreamworld!" Uzara replied, sounding very enthusiastic. "At least, it is half of what could be capable of such a thing… Furthermore, it is a necklace that belongs to Paige," he told them, and cautiously explained the next part. "I… talked with her before she went to sleep last night, and I told her of what we were trying to do here. She freely gave me her necklace to use as the catalyst for our experiment. The only problem with this situation is that the stone which constitutes the charm on the necklace is incomplete. I did some analyzing, and it seems that the stone is only half complete. That means that there is another half of the stone still out there, and we need it. Gentlemen, as you are no doubt aware- from your knowledge and past experience with Project Riftgate, we need a completely whole object from the area, planet, or dimension we want to link to, or else the connection will not go through…" he explained.

"So… that means the rest of the stone is in the Dreamworld, where Paige is from?" Linden asked.

"It used to be…" Uzara replied. "Last night, after you all were done here and Paige had given me the necklace, I took the liberty of using my powers to bring the other half of the stone to Earth," he told the scientists, who were actually quite surprised. "I feel that it is near- however, I do not know what form it is in, or where it is exactly. All I know is that it is within reach."

"How are we supposed to find the other half then?" Hanford asked.

"Why don't we just take the necklace outside, and see if we can find the other half by following the direction it's pointing?" Linden inquired.

"Two reasons…" Uzara replied. "One- because it will be too risky taking this necklace outside where someone may spot it, and we could lose it. And two- I have a better plan," he explained.

"What does this plan of yours entail?" Mason asked, becoming more curious.

"When I transported the other half of the stone here, I could feel the presence of something that was alive- just as I had felt with the little Dreamkeeper when I brought her here," Uzara explained.

"You don't mean… wait… you actually brought another Dreamkeeper here?" Hanford asked.

"I believe so…" Uzara replied quietly. "However this time, it will be in the outside world- out among the populace. And with the public position on extraterrestrials as of late, all we'll have to do is wait until someone else finds it for us. The other half of the stone is bound to be with it as well."

"But what about the government? What will they do if they capture that Dreamkeeper after someone calls them?" Mason asked.

"Mason, you forget that we are basically in league with the government. Our division is just one of many under their command," Uzara replied. "If someone picks up the Dreamkeeper, then you can be sure that we will know…"

0ooOoo0

"Here it is- home sweet home!" Tucker said to Mace, Whip, Lilith, Namah, and Bast, whom had followed him up to his place on the third floor of a dingy apartment complex. He opened the door and allowed the young Dreamkeepers to step inside. They walked through the door, and took a quick look around the cramped apartment. It wasn't very big at all, and consisted of a front room, kitchen, dining area, bathroom, and bedroom. The walls were lined with shelves that were packed to the brim with discs, hard drives, and small servers. Cords ran along the baseboards, and even through small plastic tubes that had been bolted to the walls. There was an upside-down wooden box across the room from them that provided a base for what the Dreamkeepers thought was a larger version of what they saw back at that store. Again, they assumed that it must be some sort of data-scroll-like device. However, at a series of small desks along a left-hand wall there were a few more similar-looking pieces of technology, although these were quite a bit smaller. There were two ratty sofas near the desks, but they seemed comfortable enough to sleep on. To their right, was the dining area, which held a small table that was presently covered in clipboards, files, and discs.

"So, what do you guys think?" Tucker asked, not even trying to fake a smile.

"Well it's…" Namah hesitated. "An apartment…"

"I think its nice," Lilith replied, and smiled weakly.

"Nice try!" Tucker replied with a smirk. "I'm fully aware that my place looks like crap. You can't blame me though, I wasn't expecting company," he added as he cleared some of the miscellaneous junk off the table.

"We understand- and thank you again!" Lilith smiled nervously.

"Hey, you think this is bad?" Mace asked the group. "Try getting a good night sleep in a drafty tent over the ocean!" he joked.

Tucker looked back at Mace. "What do you mean, like on a camping trip?" he asked.

"Yeah, I wish…" Mace groaned. "What I'm talking about is less like a fun camping trip and more like an endurance test…"

"Oh… for a while I thought that's what you guys were doing here in Marcadia," Tucker replied as he set his backpack down on a wooden chair. "Every year, tourists come here for the summer to either camp in the forests near Lake Michigan, or attend the cosplay convention at the rec center downtown. I assume it's the cosplay convention that you guys are here for then, right?"

"We're not here for either of those things," Bast replied.

"We're familiar with camping, but what's a… cosplay convention?" Namah asked, sounding confused and interested.

Tucker looked back at the four kids and Whip- who he still thought was just a balloon. "It's a gathering of people that dress up in costumes for whatever reason. I don't know- something like that. I never got into it…" he explained, and resumed sorting his belongings. "But if that's not why you're here, then why are you wearing those costumes?" he suddenly asked. The Dreamkeepers didn't know what to say.

"We aren't wearing any…" Lilith began, but then looked at her extra clothes. "Oh, you mean this?" she asked, and removed her excessive coat and her hat. The others quickly followed suit, and they were now wearing their normal attire. "Okay, see? No more disguises!" she said to Tucker with a smile. The young man could only sit and stare at the kids, unsure of what he was witnessing.

"We know that your city might not be accustomed to newcomers that don't look like you or everyone else here, but its okay! We're Dreamkeepers just like you!" Lilith explained in an upbeat manner. "No need to be alarmed!"

"And about the whole… having kids with your family members thing- we won't judge you!" Namah quickly and awkwardly added.

Tucker kept staring warily at the kids. "Wha… Dreamkeepers? What's going on here?" he suddenly asked in an accusatory tone.

"What's the matter? You're a Dreamkeeper, we're Dreamkeepers, everything's fine!" Mace replied, also feeling confused about their situation.

Tucker began to sweat a little. "No… no, no, everything's NOT fine!" he responded, sounding confused. He looked back at the kids and pointed at himself. "I am not a Dreamkeeper… I'm a Human! I don't even know what a Dreamkeeper is! Like… what even is that?!" he questioned. The Dreamkeepers' felt a collective heaviness descend upon them.

"I've never heard of a Human before…" Lilith replied, feeling a bit lost. "Where does your kind live in the Dreamworld?"

This earned another surprised response from Tucker. "Dreamworld?! What are you guys talking about? Where and what is that?" he responded. Now it was the Dreamkeepers' turn to stare back at Tucker. "This is Earth. Planet Earth!"

The Dreamkeepers and Tucker stood across from each other for what seemed like minutes. "Well then…" Namah commented, as shocked as everyone else.

"So let me get this straight…" Tucker began. "You guys are not Humans. You are Dreamkeepers…" The Dreamkeepers nodded slowly in response. "You guys think you are in some 'Dreamworld', when in reality, right now, you are on a world called 'Earth'," he explained.

"Well we thought we were in the Dreamworld," Lilith replied. "I guess not…"

"It seems like we just fooled ourselves into thinking that we were still in the same place… we should have known once we saw what you Humans looked like," Namah added.

"Could my necklace have really done that?! Transported us to another world?!" Mace exclaimed in a distressed manner.

"That's just GREAT!" Bast suddenly yelled, getting everyone's attention. "Mace, what the hell is going on?!" he said to the other boy. Mace shot the most menacing glare he could back at the taller, older boy.

"For the last time, Bast! I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS!" Mace yelled back, and it looked as if the two were about to come to blows once again.

"BOTH OF YOU! QUIET DOWN!" Tucker said to them as if he was an upset parent. To Whip, Lilith, and Namah's surprise, the Human's commanding stature and tone he spoke with actually made Mace and Bast stand down and look at him in surprise. "If you start yelling, then someone's going to call the police on us! And trust me, you don't want that to happen!" he explained to the now-mellow Dreamkeepers.

"He started it…" Mace growled, and Bast glared back.

"I don't care who started it! If you guys want to keep shouting and bring the police down on us, then be my guest. You'll all regret it, though. If they find you, it's the end of the line for all of us! And I mean it!" Tucker replied.

"What does that mean?" Lilith asked, sounding worried. "Does someone already know we're here?"

"Most likely not…" Tucker replied, taking heavy breaths. "But what I mean, is that if someone figures out that I'm allowing aliens to stay at my place then we will get in serious trouble!"

"Why's that?" Lilith asked. "I mean, we look different than you, sure. But why does our presence here warrant such a serious consequence?"

Tucker let out an arduous sigh, and closed his eyes. "Okay, I'll explain to you. Take a seat at the table, guys. This might be long…" he told them, and walked around to the front of the big table. Lilith quickly glanced at her friends, and discreetly got their attention.

"Guys- don't tell him about our powers yet! You got that?" Lilith whispered to the others. The Dreamkeepers nodded quietly, and then sat in some chairs around the table.

Tucker was about to begin once he saw the group sit down, until he noticed Whip. "What's that, a balloon?" he asked Mace, who had resumed holding him by the tail.

"Oh, right… No, he's a Dreamkeeper like us!" Mace replied, and tapped Whip on his side. Whip sprang out of his spherical position, and took a deep breath before releasing it. Tucker scooted back in his chair a few inches once he saw the little Dreamkeeper flop onto the table, but his cautiousness quickly subsided once he saw how cute and harmless he looked. "Tucker, meet Whip!" Mace said.

"Jujami lanipa!" Whip chirped, and floated down onto the end of the table.

"Nice to meet you too, Whip," Tucker said to him. Mace immediately shot straight up in his chair.

"You can understand him?!" Mace asked excitedly.

Tucker recoiled again, and gave the boy a perplexing look. "Uh… nope. I think I just got lucky," Tucker replied, not really knowing what was going on.

"Oh…" Mace responded, and lost a bit of his smile. "You see, only I can understand Whip," he said. "It's been like that ever since we were little kids at our orphanage."

"It's no big deal, Mace," Tucker replied. "You know to me, he kind of looks a bit like a Pokémon…"

"What's a Pokémon?" Mace asked curiously. Tucker just rubbed his neck and coughed.

"It's nothing… Just a kid's show and a video game series," Tucker replied sheepishly.

"Thank you for being so accepting of us..." Lilith replied, and looked at her companions. "We didn't exactly come here by choice, either- just to clarify," she added.

"I've also been meaning to ask- how exactly did you guys get here?" Tucker asked the group.

"I can answer that," Lilith replied, being the diplomatic one. "Mace's necklace that his friend made for him started randomly glowing when we were exploring some caves back in the Dreamworld. Soon, it started to act even stranger- and before we knew it, we were trapped in some… force-field that turned into a portal of some kind that transported us through the stars. We landed where thought was far away from our home city of Anduruna, but still in the Dreamworld. We walked from where we ended up, down a mountain-face and to your city. We wandered around a bit there, until we met you. And now, here we are," she explained.

"We've also only been here since this afternoon," Bast added.

Tucker took in their explanations, and closed his eyes. "Alright, I see. And I believe you guys as well," he responded. "So I might as well tell you guys why beings like you are in such danger on Earth these days," he added.

The Dreamkeepers leaned in a bit closer to listen to their new Human acquaintance. "I'll start from the top," Tucker began to say. "You know, despite my initial reaction that you guys saw, I wish I could say that I was truly surprised to see beings like you here on Earth… but I'm not," he said to them, which interested the Dreamkeepers. "I was more surprised at the fact that something like this was personally happening to me. I've seen situations like the one we're all in right now before on the news, and I've read stories about it in the newspaper on a monthly basis…" he explained.

"So… are you saying that your kind is used to unknown races appearing on Earth?" Lilith asked, becoming even more interested.

"As a matter of fact, yes," Tucker replied quietly. "Although it wasn't always like that. It's happened before my time, but even then it was never something as major as what could warrant something like these laws that are in effect right now to be passed," he explained. "It's been happening more frequently, and more recently. In the last twenty years, Earth has seen some serious shit… We don't even know what's real or what's fake anymore…"

"What do you mean by that?" Mace asked, also becoming much more interested.

Tucker took a deep sigh and continued on with his explanation. "Twenty years ago, the general public didn't even know if aliens could exist or not," he began. "That is, until aliens actually appeared in mass numbers on our planet about seven years ago… And the worst part, is that all along, even more of them had been here for thousands of years- right under our noses!" he told the kids, surprising them. "Do you know how insane that is?" he asked them.

"We might be able to imagine what that feels like…" Lilith replied thoughtfully, remembering that Nightmares were most likely still on the prowl back in the Dreamworld.

"Well we didn't have to…" Tucker continued. "Because the aliens didn't just bring themselves, oh no. Instead, they brought their own war as well as their blood-feuds to our planet…" he explained thoroughly. The kids' eyes opened more, and they leaned in closer to hear more of Tucker's explanation. "And you know what happened because of it? They almost destroyed some of our major cities!" he told them. "Countless Humans died when they invaded…"

"How could they do that?!" Namah exclaimed. "What did you do?!"

"Well after the largest and most costly battle that was fought three years ago ended, the governments of our world decided to sever ties with the aliens and ordered them to leave. However, they protested against this, and so our governments decided to mercilessly hunt them down instead…" Tucker explained.

"So… did they get them all?" Mace inquired.

"Nope. We know that there are still a lot of them out there, just hiding in different places around the world," Tucker replied. "And we aren't able to see them very easily, either. In fact, I wish they would just leave already so they can escape whatever fate our governments have in mind for them…"

"You sound sad," Lilith observed. "Why is that? Weren't those aliens unwanted?" she asked.

"Actually…" the Human replied. "They weren't all bad."

"Are you serious?" Bast asked.

"Completely," Tucker responded. "In fact, a faction of theirs fought alongside us and against the truly evil aliens," he explained, surprising the Dreamkeepers once again. "They fought and died for our planet, as well as their own race. And do you want to know what the fucked up part about all of it is?" he asked the group. "We've also been hunting down the aliens that had helped us and fought alongside us…" he admitted, in a somewhat ashamed fashion.

"What?!" the Dreamkeepers exclaimed simultaneously.

"I know…" Tucker said to them. "Not many of us are exactly proud of it, either… We've tried to resist the laws that order us to report alien activity and turn in extraterrestrials, but these bureaucrat types are crafty. Listen, our world economy has been in a tough spot for about six years now. This means that people are going to be desperate for any kind of money they can earn. As a result, the government actually offers handsome bounties on aliens to entice average people like me to turn them over to government officials. All I have to do is contact one of them, say I have an alien or know where one is, and bingo- instant cash!" he explained.

The Dreamkeepers looked warily at the Human. "You aren't going to turn us in, are you?" Mace asked, feeling somewhat worried. Tucker seemed nice, but the Dreamkeepers didn't fully understand how the Human mind could work.

"Fortunately for you guys, I'm not going to turn you in…" Tucker proclaimed, gaining sighs of relief from the group of Dreamkeepers. "In fact, I never would. I'd never do that to anyone who had fought for my city, country, or even planet…"

"That's good! And it sucks that you guys are in such a tough situation right now…" Mace said to Tucker.

"Oh, it's been tough for a while, now," Tucker replied. "I'm also curious. How do you guys plan to get back home?" he asked. All the kids could do was give him a blank stare, as they had no idea how they could get back to the Dreamworld.

"Actually…" Lilith began. "We have no clue. We're still wrapping our heads around the fact that we're in a different world, now!"

"Well I'll help you guys out any way I can," Tucker responded. "I'm not exactly sure how we'll do it, but one way or another; we'll get you back to the Dreamworld… or wherever you're from."

"Thanks again," Lilith replied.

"Well one thing's for sure," Namah commented. "We're sure to have a hell of a time figuring out how to do so!"

"Okay, so first- I'm interested in how you guys were brought here in the first place," Tucker began. "You guys said that some necklace transported you here, right?" he asked them.

They each looked at Mace, who responded quickly. "Oh yeah, that's right!" Mace said, and took out his necklace- which still glowed a faint blue. He set it on the table, and allowed Tucker to take a look at it.

"That's incredible…" the Human commented. "I've never seen anything do something like this," he added.

"Yeah, glowing isn't all it does," Mace said. "Ever since we came here, its been acting like its being pulled in a certain direction."

"Let me see," Tucker said, and picked up the little charm. He held it by the string, and let it dangle in the air for a few seconds. Almost immediately, the charm levitated slightly, looking as if it was somehow attracted towards pointing to the right of the group at the table. "Hmm. Follow me, guys," he said to the others before standing up and walking towards his bedroom, which was also to the right. The group of Dreamkeepers followed Tucker until they were all the way inside his room. It also seemed as if the magnetic pull of the charm wasn't letting up in the slightest. Noticing the direction the charm was pulling him in; Tucker walked over to his bedroom window and opened it. The Dreamkeepers followed his lead, and walked over to the window as well. Sure enough, the charm continued to gravitate in the same direction, and through the open window, the group could see where it was pointing. Tucker's bedroom window had a view that overlooked a parkway near a huge bridge that spanned a large river. Across the river in the dying sunlight, and coincidentally in the same direction that the charm was pointing towards, the group could see what appeared to be another part of the city. However, the buildings that composed this other half of the city in the distance looked as if they were grossly overgrown, and even abandoned.

"What's that, Tucker?" Bast asked the Human as they observed the haunting city from afar.

"That's the other half of Marcadia," Tucker replied. "It was abandoned twenty years ago because of a nuclear plant disaster…"

"What does that mean?" Namah asked.

"It means a power plant that's used to generate energy went haywire," Tucker explained. "From what I've been told, the citizens had to evacuate quickly, and many people lost their homes and businesses because of it."

"That's awful!" Lilith commented.

"Those grounds are unsafe to walk through- there could be anything there…" Tucker added. "Although it's actually a crime to trespass in those streets, I used to go there sometimes with my older brother all the time… and we never got caught, surprisingly!"

"Why do you guys think my necklace is pointing towards that place?" Mace asked, becoming more intrigued by the second.

"I have no idea!" Tucker replied. "However, Mace, I'm thinking that your necklace might be connected to something that could be going on there."

"Do you really think so?" Mace replied, and looked back at the ghostly city.

"What should we do about it?" Bast asked his companions.

"I'm thinking that we should go and check it out tomorrow!" Mace replied. "I don't know- I'm starting to get this really strong feeling that something's out there…" he added, as Tucker gave the necklace back to Mace. The boy clenched it in his hand, and could actually feel a slight sensation as if he was being guided by it.

Tucker looked back outside at the abandoned city across the river, and sighed. He knew that he was about to make one of the hardest decisions in his life in the next few seconds. Should he really be taking these young, alien Dreamkeepers across the river and risk getting caught- not only for trespassing but also for harboring alien refugees? Perhaps not. However, he couldn't bear the thought of these young kids beings tortured inside a laboratory or maybe even killed. He didn't dare consider turning them over to men in black, so they were now his responsibility- and he made the choice that he would protect them. The only way to truly keep them safe and out of harm's way, however, was to get them back to their world. The only problem was that he had no idea how to do such a thing. He felt in his gut that the only chance of figuring anything out would be to go and investigate across the river, to see what was attracting the charm that brought the Dreamkeepers there in the first place.

"Alright guys…" Tucker began. "We'll leave tomorrow morning."

"We're going over there?" Bast asked, sounding anxious.

"Yep, so we better get prepared," Tucker replied, and walked over to his bedroom door.

"You'd really do that for us?" Lilith asked, somewhat surprised.

"Yes… It took some thought, but I figure the only way to get anything figured out in this situation is to follow that necklace's influence and see where it brings us," the young man explained. "I think Mace might be right. Something's bound to be out there, and hopefully it'll be something that can help get you guys back home and away from trouble."

"You'd be able to get us home, but trust me. You wouldn't be able to get us out of trouble!" Namah replied.

"Okay then, we should get some rest before tomorrow," Tucker told them as Bast, Lilith, and Namah started to leave the room, while Mace and Whip stayed behind. "We'll take my boat at the docks to get across the river, and once we're over there, we can start following that charm's pull."

"Are you okay with this?" Mace asked, sensing that Tucker was a bit nervous. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to- I mean this IS your world…"

"Shneh-peyara!" Whip chirped, and floated next to Mace.

"Whip's concerned, too!" Mace translated for Tucker.

"I'm definitely concerned as well…" Tucker sighed, and arched his left brow. "But I really don't have a choice, do I?"


End file.
